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Le Conteur (copy 1)

Entered September 2018

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

42 x 35 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Garden Scene with Six Figures

A Group of Actors in a Garden

A Pastoral Scene

 

PROVENANCE

London, sale, Christie’s, Property of a Gentleman [Woodcock?], July 12, 1879, lot 101: “WATTEAU . . . Garden scene, with six figures; a cavalier in the foreground on his knees to a lady (Iris) playing a guitar. Engraved by Cochin.” Sold with its pendant, lot 102 (called  Délassements champêtres but corresponding to L’Accord parfait), for £2.15 the pair.

Paris and New York, with Gimpel and Wildenstein.

New York, collection of William Salomon (1852-1919; railroad executive and investment banker). His sale, New York, American Art Association, April 4-7, 1923, lot 376. “JEAN BAPTISTE JOSEPH PATER . . . A PASTORAL SCENE . . . (Canvas) . . . Height, 16 ¼ inches; width, 13 ½ inches . . . (Companion to the following) . . . In a summer landscape, bounded on the left by a term and on the right by a vase beneath the trees, a group of six persons are frolicking. On the right a lady, wearing a white satin dress, is playing on a musical instrument. More to the left, but by her side, kneels a man who is dressed in gay attire and knee-breeches. On the ground, between his legs, is a small dog. Behind the two principal figures stands a pierrot. In the background to the left are a young man and a girl and another man. Blue sky. Purchased from Gimpel & Wildenstein.” According to the annotated sale catalogue in the Frick Art Reference Library, the picture was sold to Edwin A. Shewan for $5,000.

New York, collection of Edwin A. Shewan (1872-1945).

New York, with Wildenstein and Co. Sold in 1949 to a private collector.

Private collection.
           
New York, sale, Sotheby’s, property of a family collection, January 14, 1988, lot 195: “Jean-Baptiste Pater . . .  A GROUP OF ACTORS IN A GARDEN / oil on canvas / 16½ by 13¾ in.   42 by 35 cm. Pater was the only pupil of Antoine Watteau whose works he frequently imitated. The present picture copies a work by Watteau in the collection of Edouard de Rothschild, Paris. The composition was slightly altered by Pater, extending the picture to the left to include a herm draped with a vine which is only partially visible in the painting by Watteau. At the time of the Salomon sale (see provenance below), the present work was sold with a companion painting (see literature below, Ingersoll-Smouse, no. 594). Engraved by C.N. Cochin, 1727 Provenance: Gimpel & Wildenstein / William Salomon, New York (Sale: American Art Association, New York, April 5, 1923, lot 376) / purchased by Edwin A. Shewan, New York / Wildenstein and Co., from whom purchased by the family in 1949 Literature: Florence Ingersoll-Smouse, Pater, 1928, p. 85, no. 597, illus. fig. 174 / Helene Adhémar, Watteau, sa vie—son oeuvre, 1950, p. 223, listed under cat. no. 168 / Giovanni Macchia, L’Opera Completa di Watteau,1968, p. 108, listed under cat. no. 132. $80,000-100,000” The painting sold for $143,000.

 

 
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ingersoll-Smouse, Pater (1928), cat. 597.

Adhémar, Watteau (1950), under cat. 168.

Macchia and Montagni, L’opera completa di Watteau (1968), under cat. 132.

 

 

REMARKS

This picture and its pendant, a copy after Watteau’s L’Accord parfait, remained together from the time of their inception until their sale from the Salomon collection in 1923. Thus any attempt to trace this painting to a listing in the nineteenth century cannot succeed unless it was listed in tandem with the pendant.

Despite the earlier attribution to Watteau and the later emendation to Pater (the name often invoked faute de mieux when an attribution to the master proves unsustainable), its seems unlikely that the true identity of the copyist will be established. The colors essentially mirror those of Watteau’s painting, suggesting that it was made directly from that work.

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 2)

Entered September 2018

 

Whereabouts unknown

Materials unknown

35 x 28 cm

 

PROVENANCE

Paris, with Victor Alvin-Beaumont (b. 1862; artist, dealer, critic).

 

 

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adhémar, Watteau (1950), under cat. 168.

Macchia and Montagni, L’opera completa di Watteau (1968), under cat. 132.

 

REMARKS

The association of this picture with the version owned by Alvin-Beaumont is recorded on the mount of a photograph in the Witt Library, London. It does not correspond to any of the other extant versions known today. The painting is in the same direction as Watteau’s original composition.

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 3)

Entered September 2018

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

49 x 37 cm

 

PROVENANCE

Paris, sale, Hôtel Drouot-Richelieu (Millon & Associés), March 23, 2007, lot 76: “Ecole FRANCAISE du XVIIIème siècle, d’après Antoine WATTEAU / Le contour / Toile / 49 x 37 cm / Reprise du tableau perdu mais connu par la gravure de Cochin (voir E. Camesasca, Tout l’oeuvre peint de Watteau, Paris, 1970, no 132, reproduit). RM 2 000 / 3 000 €.”

Paris, sale, Hôtel Drouot-Richelieu (Millon & Associés), June 18, 2007, lot 41: “Ecole FRANCAISE du XVIIIème siècle, d’après Antoine WATTEAU / Le conteur / Toile / 49 x 37 cm / Reprise du tableau perdu mais connu par la gravure de Cochin (voir E. Camesasca, Tout l’oeuvre peint de Watteau, Paris, 1970, no 132, reproduit). RM 1 500 / 2 500 €.”

 

REMARKS

This copy is in the same direction as Watteau’s original composition but, especially in the extended, upper part of the painting, does not follow his design.

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 4)

Entered September 2018; revised April 2022

 

Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland, inv. NGI.801

Oil on canvas.

40 x 32 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

A Group of Figures

A Musical Party

 

PROVENANCE

London, collection of Cromartie Sutherland-Leveson, 4th duke of Duke of Sutherland (1851-1913). His sale, London, Christie’s, July 11, 1913, lot 38: “A. WATTEAU . . . A GROUP OF FIGURES  A pierrot and harlequin, conversing with a lady holding a guitar; three other figures seen beyond.  15½ in by 13 ½  in.” Sold for £525 to Martin according to annotated copies of the sale catalogue in the National Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Bibliothèque nationale, Paris; and the Frick Art Reference Library, New York. 

Dublin, collection of Sir Hugh Percy Lane (1875-1915); art dealer and collector). Bequeathed to the museum in 1918.

 

 

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lejeune, Guide théorique et pratique (1864), 214.

Dublin, National Gallery, Catalogue of Pictures (1928), 150.

 

REMARKS

The copy now in Dublin is in the same direction as Watteau’s original composition.

The National Gallery of Ireland has proposed that its picture, which has no provenance prior to it being in the Lane collection, might have been bought by him in the 1870 Paris sale of the Pelletier collection (our copy 21), but there is no proof of this. Moreover, the museum may not have been aware of how many copies of Le Conteur were on the market in the late nineteenth century.

Rather, it is quite possible that this copy may have been the one previously in the prestigious collection of the Duke of Sutherland. Although never photographed, its description and size (the Sutherland picture was measured as 39.4 x 43.3 cm) accord with the painting now in Dublin. When Sutherland’s painting was sold, despite Christie’s lack of a full endorsement, it brought the sizable sum of £525 (the same price as another so-called Watteau). Given its provenance from the distinguished collection of the duke of Sutherland, it well would have appealed to Hugh Lane.

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 5)

Entered September 2018

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas.

40 x 34 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Mädchen mit Gitarre und fünf Figuren

 

PROVENANCE

Vienna, private collection.

Vienna, sale, Dorotheum, December 10, 2004, lot 228: “Antoine Watteau. Nachahmer des 18 Jahrhunderts / Mädchen mit Gitarre und fünf Figuren aus der Commedia dell’Arte. Widerholung nach der originalen Komposition von Watteau. Öl auf Leinwand, 40 x 34 cm, o.R, (Wo)  / € 1.500 – 2.000   US$ 1.800-2.400.”  Sold for €1,600 ($2,120).

 

REMARKS

This copy is in the same direction as Watteau’s original composition.

         

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 6)

Entered September 2018

 

Chartres, Musée des beaux-arts, inv. 5610.

Materials unknown

Measurements unknown

 

PROVENANCE

Chartres, collection of Justin Curtois; donated to the museum.
           

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Chartres, Musée, Catalogue (1931), cat. 243 or 244.
 

REMARKS

When on view in 1970, this painting was presented as an “étude” for Watteau’s final painting. However, as its poor quality demonstrates, it is just a weak copy after Watteau’s composition. Curiously, the painting is not listed in the museum’s 1954 Catalogue sommaire.

 

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 7)

Entered September 2018

 

 

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil

Measurements unknown

 

PROVENANCE

Barcelona, sale, Sala de Ventas, December 22, 2016, lot 900: Circle of Jean Antoine Watteau.

 

REMARKS

By and large this picture copies Watteau’s composition. It has omitted the third actor from the  background group and compensated by adding a small figure to the lower right corner, his finger lifted to his lips as though warning the foreground group.  The poor quality of execution is noticeable.

This copy is in the same direction as Watteau’s original composition, and the space given to the trees in the background has been enlarged, creating a vertical format.

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 8)

Entered September 2018

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on fiberboard panel

19.5 x 29 cm

 

PROVENANCE

Berlin, sale, Galerie Dobiaschofsky, May 5-8, 1998, lot 1323: “WATTEAU, ANTOINE . . . Kopie nach / Le Conteur. Zusammenkunft von sechs Personnen in einem Park, im Zentrum eine Gitarrenspielerin in weissem Seidenkleid, von zwei Männern umgerinkt. Öl auf Htf. 19,5 x 28 cm, ungerahmt. / 1500.—
    Kopie nach dem heute verschollenen, angeblich in der Kollektion Edmond de Rothschild befundenen Original, von dem mehere gemalte Kopien existieren, u.a. in der National Gallery in Dublin sowie in den Museen vom Anvers und Chartres. Literatur: Jean Ferré, Watteau, 4 Bde., Madrid 1972, Katalogband, S.968f. An einigen Stellen in der Farbgebung verblasst, etwas zu restaurieren.”

 

REMARKS

If this painting is truly on fiberboard and is not, say, canvas or panel glued to fiberboard, then this copy cannot be earlier than the twentieth century. In any event, the execution is extremely poor. This copy is in the same direction as Watteau’s original composition, but it has been extended into a horizontal format.

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 9)

Entered September 2018

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on panel

24 x 20 cm.

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Le Séducteur
           

PROVENANCE

Brussels, collection of Ch. van Bellingen. His sale, Brussels, Galerie George Giroux, December 11-12, 1923, lot 42: “Jean-Baptiste Pater. . . LE SÉDUCTEUR / BOIS.  H. 0.24.  L. 0.20 / Cadre en bois sculpté. Voir reproduction, planchet no 20.”

Paris, with Charles Brunner. Brunner’s ownership of a copy of Le Conteur is recorded by Adhémar, and is indicated on a mounted photograph in the Witt Library, London.
 

 

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ingersoll-Smouse, Pater (1928), cat. 195.

Adhémar, Watteau (1950), under cat. 168.

Macchia and Montagni, L’opera completa di Watteau (1968), under cat. 132.

 

REMARKS

When this picture came up at auction in 1923, it was given to Pater; this may reflect a still earlier attribution. However, Pater’s authorship was rightly disputed by Ingersoll-Smouse and Adhémar. The picture was executed by a copyist, one who was working from Cochin’s engraving. 

           

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 10)

Entered September 2018

 

Antwerp, Ridder Smidt van Gelder Museum, inv. SM 849

Oil on panel

27 x 22 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

De Verteller

 

PROVENANCE

England, private collection. This provenance, recorded in the museum’s files, must have come from Goudstikker.

Amsterdam, Kunsthandel J. Goudstikker (illustrated in Oude Kunst, 5 [November 1919], 52).

Antwerp, collection of Pieter Smidt van Gelder (1879-1956; art collector).

 

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adhémar, Watteau (1950), under cat. 168.

Macchia and Montagni, L’opera completa di Watteau (1968), under cat. 132.

Wijngaert, Museum Ridder Smidt van Gelder (1970).

Ferré, Watteau (1977), under cat. B31; X section, no. VI, illus. 845.

Antwerp, Ridder Smidt van Gelder, Catalogus Schilderijen (1980), 113-14.

 

REMARKS

At the beginning of the twentieth century, or perhaps still earlier, this copy after Watteau’s Le Conteur was attributed to Philippe Mercier. It matters little whether this was just another example of an anonymous copy after Watteau arbitrarily attributed to Mercier, or whether its English provenance prompted the attribution to Mercier. Stylistically, there is no reason to assign the painting to Mercier. Yet from the time that Goudstikker owned the painting until the 1970s, that unjustified attribution remained in place and was repeated by critics such as Adhémar. Macchia and Montagni incorrectly claimed that this may be the version formerly in the van Bellingen collection (our copy 9).

This copy is in the opposite direction of Watteau’s original composition, and was based on Cochin’s engraving.

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 11)

Entered September 2018; revised January 2019

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on panel

27.9 x 22.3 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Une Fête champêtre

 

PROVENANCE

Oslo, with Blomgoost Kunsthandel (pre-1958, probably before World War II).

Vienna, sale, Dorotheum, March 6, 1996, lot 250. “Nicholas Lancret . . . Nachfolger ‘Une fête champêtre’, rechts unten bezeichnet NLancret (ligiert), Öl auf Holz, 28,5 x 21,5 cm, ger. (Wo). 40,000-50,000 [Austrian schillings]” Bought in.

London, sale, Christie’s South Kensington, Christie’s, February 20, 1997, lot 163: “FOLLOWER OF NICOLAS LANCRET / A Fête Champêtre / with signature ‘NLancret’ / oil on panel / 11 x 8¾in (27.9 x 22.3cm)/ £1,800-2,200.” Sold for £2,875 ($4,631).

 

REMARKS

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 12)

Entered September 2018

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

124 x 103 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Le Concert champêtre

 

PROVENANCE

Paris, sale, Hôtel Drouot (Baron Ribeyre), June 27, 2007, lot 118: “École FRANÇAISE du XVIIIe  siècle, suiveur de Antoine WATTEAU / Le conteur. Toile. 124 x 103 cm / Porte une signature et une date en bas à droite A. WATTEAU 1715. R.M. 5 000€ / Reprise du tableau de Watteau Le conteur, date de 1715, non localisé et connu par différentes reprises à la gravure. (voir Tout l’oeuvre peint de Watteau, Paris, 1970, no   132, reproduit).” Bought in.

Neuilly-sur-Seine, sale, Hôtel des ventes (Claude Aguttes), June 17, 2008, lot 60: “École française du XIXe siècle, suiveur d’Antoine WATEAU / Le concert champêtre / Toile agrandie sur quatre côtes / 125 x 103 cm / Dim. origineles: 89 x 67 cm / 3 000/4 000 €.” Sold for €3,718.

REMARKS

The supposed "Watteau" signature and 1715 date are, of course, spurious. This copy is in the opposite direction of Watteau’s original composition, and was based on Cochin’s engraving.  It is unusually larger than most copies after the composition.

 

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 13)

Entered September 2018

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

38.7 x 31.7 cm

 

PROVENANCE

London, sale, Christie’s South Kensington, October 22, 1992, lot 272: “After Antione [sic] Watteau / Le Conteur / oil on canvas / 15¼ x 12½in (38.7 x 31.7cm) / £1,000-1,500.”
Sold for £1,100.

 

REMARKS

This copy is in the opposite direction of Watteau’s original composition, and was based on Cochin’s engraving.

 

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 14)

Entered September 2018; revised May 2021

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on panel

45 x 46 cm

 

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Musicienne et Pierrot

 

PROVENANCE

Paris, sale, Mercier et Cie., October 7, 2018, lot 281: “D’après Watteau. Musicienne et Pierrot. Huile sur panneau signée au centre à droite. Dans un joli cadre en bois mouluré et sculpté. A vue: 45 x 46 cm.” Est. 300-500 €.

 

REMARKS

Despite the presence of the artist’s supposed signature, the painting is only a reduced version of Le Conteur; it omits the dog and the third actor in the background. The kneeling actor is misproportioned, with an overly large head. Not least, the copyist based his painting on the Cochin engraving. In its coloration and oval format, it is remarkably similar to our copy 26.

 

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 15)

Entered September 2018; revised January 2019

 

Mâcon, Musée des Ursulins, inv. 998.15.10

Oil on panel

40.5 x 32 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Comédiens italiens

Le Concert champêtre

 

PROVENANCE

Paris, collection of Martial Pelletier. His sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, April 28, 1870, lot 39: “WATTEAU (A.) . . . Le Concert champêtre. Près de la statue du dieu Pan, un jeune seigneur est aux pieds d’une dame vêtue d’une robe blanche & tenant une guitare; au second plan, Pierrot, Mascarille & autres personnages de la Comédie italienne. Toile. – H. 40 c; l. 32 c.”

Paris, sale, Hôtel Drouot, May 31, 1881, lot 63: “WATTEAU (ANTOINE) . . . Le Conteur. Réunion de six personnages dans un parc (Gravé par Cochin). H 40 c. L. 32 c.”

 

EXHIBITIONS

Mâcon, Musée des Ursulins, Drôle de genre (2000), cat. 4.

 

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dacier, Vuaflart, and Hérold, Jean de Jullienne et les graveurs (1921-29) under cat. 4.

Réau, “Watteau” (1928), under cat. 65.

Adhémar, Watteau (1950), under cat. 168.

Macchia and Montagni, L’opera completa di Watteau (1968)

 

REMARKS

The painting came from the museum’s “fonds anciens,” but until now its specific origins were unknown. It seems more than likely that the picture at auction in 1870 and 1881 were one and the same, and that picture can safely be identified with the painting now in Mâcon. All three show the same composition and share common dimensions.

Although the Mâcon painting’s relation to the Watteau circle has been recognized by the museum, the fact this is a copy after the artist’s Le Conteur has gone unmentioned. Without actually knowing the painting sold in 1870, Dacier, Vuaflart, and Hérold, as well as Adhémar (mistranscribing the collector’s name as “Leperlier”) and Macchia and Montagni rightly recognized it was a copy after Le Conteur. And, as can now be seen, it is in the opposite direction of Watteau’s original composition and thus was based on the Cochin engraving.

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 16)

Entered September 2018

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on copper

23.5 x 29 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Scène galante dans un parc

 

PROVENANCE

Paris, sale, Galerie Charpentier, collection of Lucien Lelong and others, June 8-9, 1959, lot. 200: “WATTEAU (Suite d’Antoine) . . . Le Conteur.  Un homme en habit rouge à crevés s’agenouille devant une jeune joueuse de guitare et lui déclare son amour. A droite, au fond, trois jeunes femmes et un jeune homme apparaissent dans un encadrement de feuillage…. Métal…Haut. 0m23; Larg. 0m285… Cadre en bois sculpté.
   Composition inspirée par le tableau de Watteau intitulé “Le Conteur” et où les deux personnages ci-dessus ainsi que le chien se retrouvent en sens inverse. (cf. Hélène Adhémar, Watteau, Paris, 1950, No 168, pl. 96). Le groupe de droite se rapprocherait plus de Lancret. ..Voir la reproduction, pl. XXI.”

Paris, sale, Hôtel Drouot (Tajan), March 26, 2003, lot 73: “ATTRIBUÉ À BONAVENTURE DE BAR  . . . SCÈNE GALANTE DANS UN PARC / Cuivre / 23.5 x 29 cm / 12 000 – 15 000€ “. Sold for 18,050€.

 

REMARKS

The proposed attribution to Bonaventure de Bar is just the marketplace’s stratagem for giving a name to an otherwise anonymous copy. This copy is in the opposite direction of Watteau’s original composition, and was based on Cochin’s engraving. It was also distended into a horizontal format.

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 17)

Entered September 2018; revised May 2021

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

66 x 76.2 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Fête Galante

 

PROVENANCE

Boston, sale, Grogan & Company, November 11, 2000, lot 17: “CIRCLE OF PHILIPPE MERCIER . . . FETE CHAMPETRE / Oil on canvas; 26 x 30 inches / $3,000-5,000.”  Sold for $2,300.

New York, sale, Sotheby’s, October 5, 2001, lot 109: “Attributed to Philip Mercier . . . FÊTE GALANTE / oil on canvas / 25½ x 30½ in.    64.8 by 77.5cm / $8,000-12,000.” Sold for $7,800. 

 

REMARKS

The attempted attribution to Mercier and his circle is just the market’s device for giving a name to an otherwise anonymous copy. The picture is in the opposite direction of Watteau’s original composition and was based on Cochin’s engraving, but was extended into a horizontal format.

 

 

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 18)

Entered September 2018

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas.

58.8 x 45.6 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

A Fête Champêtre

 

PROVENANCE

New York, sale, Christie’s, May 19, 1993, lot 146: “THE PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTION . . . School of JEAN-ANTOINE WATTEAU . . . A Fête Champêtre / oil on canvas / 23 1/8 x 17 15/16 in. (58.8 x 45.6 cm.) The present lot derives from Charles Nicolas Cochin’s engraving after Watteau’s lost painting ‘Le Conteur’. Other versions of this composition exist, some given to Pater (see E. Camesasca, ed. Tout L’Oeuvre Peint de Watteau, 1968, p. 108, no. 132 / $8,000 – 12,000.”

 

REMARKS

This copy is in the opposite direction of Watteau’s original composition, and was based on Cochin’s engraving, but was distended into a horizontal format.

 

 

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 19)

Entered September 2018

 

Whereabouts unknown

Materials unknown

Dimensions unknown

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Scène de la comédie italienne

 

PROVENANCE

Belgium, private collection

 

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ferré, Watteau (1972), cat. P19.

 

REMARKS

This copy is in the opposite direction of Watteau’s original composition. It was based on Cochin’s engraving, but was opened into a horizontal frieze.

 

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 20)

Entered September 2018

 

 

Whereabouts unknown

Materials unknown

Dimensions unknown

           

PROVENANCE

Paris, sale, Hôtel Drouot (Cousin & Pillet), January 31, 1856, lot 54: “[WATTEAU] . . . Une jeune femme tenant une guitare se défend contre les entreprises d’un jeune homme agenouillé à ses pieds. D’autres personnages contemplent cette scène.”

 

REMARKS

Although the composition is not specifically identified as Le Conteur, the description makes it abundantly clear. In all likelihood, it is one of the copies that have appeared on the market in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but without a photograph or dimensions, the issue cannot be resolved.

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 21)

Entered January 2019

 

Agen, Musée des beaux-arts, inv. 277 CH

Oil on canvas

41 x 33 cm

           

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Personnages dans un parc

 

PROVENANCE

Paris, collection of Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Damase de Chaudordy (1826-1899; statesman); his estate; donated to the museum in 1900.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Heib, “Damaze de Chaudordy" (2008), 157.

REMARKS

This often overlooked copy of Watteau’s composition merits careful consideration. Although the museum presently considers the picture to be a copy after Cochin’s engraving, in fact, it agrees with the direction of Watteau’s painting. Moreover, its color scheme suggests that the artist was actually copying Watteau’s canvas. At the same time, the artist reveals his own (and lesser) artistic personality. Elaborating on Watteau’s motif of the scattered roses on the ground, the painter burdened the shrubs with an overabundance of roses—something one never finds in Watteau’s works. Also the copyist enriched the appearance of the woman at the left, adding a visible right arm and a crown of flowers in her hand.

 

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 22)

Entered September 2018; revised April 2022

 This entry has been merged with copy 4.

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 23)

Entered September 2018

 

 

Whereabouts unknown

Materials unknown

Measurements unknown

 

PROVENANCE

Paris, with Arnold Seligmann.

 

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adhémar, Watteau (1950), under cat. 223.

Macchia and Montagni, L’opera completa di Watteau (1968), under cat. 132.

 

REMARKS

Adhémar was the first critic to specify that the dealer Seligmann owned a copy of Le Conteur. Montagni and Macchia appear to say that Seligmann’s painting was the one owned by Alvin-Beaumont (our copy 2).

 

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 24)

Entered January 2019

 

Whereabouts unknown

Materials unknown

34.3 x 26.7 cm

 

PROVENANCE

London, with Dowdeswell and Dowdeswell, c. 1905.

 

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

London, Arundel Society, Portfolio (1905), cat. 3.

 

REMARKS

This copy after Watteau’s painting is known only through its publication in the Arundel Society’s annual portfolio in 1905. At that time the picture was attributed to Pater or his school, a recognition that it was not by Watteau himself. Curiously, the picture’s later whereabouts have not been traced. 

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 25)

Entered April 2019; revised May 2021

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on panel

26.5 x 19.5 cm

 

           
ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Le Concert champêtre

 

PROVENANCE

Toulouse, Artcurial, June 12, 2019: “Ecole du XIXe siècle. D’après Antoine Wateau [sic]: Le concert champêtre Huile sur panneau, 26,5 x 19,5cm  . . . Estimation : 600 - 800 € / Ecole du XIXe siècle. D’après Antoine Wateau : Le concert champêtre / Huile sur panneau, 26,5 x 19,5cm”

 

REMARKS

This copy is in the opposite direction of Watteau’s original composition, and was based on Cochin’s engraving.

 

 

 

Le Conteur (copy 26)

Entered March 2021

 

Lausanne, collection of Dr. Ivan Vassutine

Oil on canvas

44.5 x 36 cm

 

PROVENANCE

Lausanne, collection of Monsieur Delle Bianco (died after 2000; lawyer).

 

REMARKS

This painting is a copy after Cochin’s engraving. In its coloration and oval format, it is remarkably similar to our copy 14.

Click here for Le Conteur

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