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Pierrot à la guitare (copy 1)
Entered December 2024
Whereabouts unknown
Oil on canvas
55 x 46 cm
ALTERNATIVE TITLES
Concert galant dans un parc
Le Divertissement champêtre
PROVENANCE
Paris, sale, Hôtel Drouot, February 15, 1934, lot 20: ”MERCIER, (Philippe) . . . Le Divertissement champêtre. Dans un parc ombreux, au pied d’une statue de pierre, des personnages de la Comédie Italienne sont réunis. Assis sur le sol. Gilles tient une guitare
sur les genoux. Non loin, une jeune femme en jupe bleue et corsage de taffetas, coiffée d’un toquet à plumes, joue avec un éventail. Au premier plan, une draperie, un tambourin et des roses. Plus loin, d’autres personnages. Toile. Haut. 0m 55, larg. 0m 46. Cadre en bois sculpté.”Berlin, collection of Jakob Goldschmidt (1882-1955; banker).
(?) New York, C. S. Wadsworth collection. Sale, New York, Parke Bernet, December 11, 1948, Wadsworth Trust, lot 65: “PHILIPPE LE MERCIER / CONCERT GALANT DANS UN PARC. Wooded park landscape with a statue of Venus at centre. In the foreground, a gallant in pink and gray costume and two young women in pink, blue and fawn silk gowns are seated on an embankment. A musician in white Pierrot costume sits on the ground at their feet, holding a guitar. Other figures, one wearing a mask, eavesdrop from behind a hedge at the left. /22 x 18 inches / Collection of J. Goldschmidt, Berlin,”
Munich, Germany, and Sao Paolo, Brazil, collection of Edith and Richard Mickenhage, Passed by descent.
Nashville, Tennessee, private collection. Their sale, Case Antiques, January 25-26, 2020, lot 302: “Continental Painting, Manner of Watteau . . . oil on canvas / landscape with four central figures: the Commedia dell’arte clown Pierrot, seated on the ground with his guitar, while two well dressed young women and another man sit above him on a bench.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Eidelberg, “Quillard, An Assistant” (1970), 64.
REMARKS
This well painted copy retains the basic composition of Harlequin jaloux and contains also the distinguishing features of Pierrot à la guitare, namely the actress leaning to her neighbor, and the still life with roses in the foreground.
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Pierrot à la guitare (copy 2)
Entered December 2024
Whereabouts unknown
Oil on canvas
51 x 40 cm
ALTERNATIVE TITLES
Les Comédiens italiens
PROVENANCE
Paris, Mme X collection. Her sale, Paris, Galerie Charpentier, June 18, 1957.
Versailles, Hôtel des Chevaux-legers, March 12, 1961, lot 57: ”Quillard (Pierre Antoine) . . . Les Comédiens italiens. Toile encadrée. Haut: 51 cm – Large. : 40 cm / Vente Collection de Mme X. Galerie Charpentier. 18 juin 1957. (Voir reproduction ci--dessus)”
Paris, sale, Hôtel Drouot (Beausssant Lefèvres), May 10, 2020, lot 32: “Ecole française dans le goût de WATTEAU / ‘Groupe de personnages dans un parc.’ Huile sur toile . 54 x 42.5 cm.”
REMARKS
The proposed attribution to Quillard is unjustified. That claim is simply one of the flags of convenience used by the art market when it is obvious that the work cannot be attributed to Watteau himself. This picture retains the basic composition of Harlequin jaloux and some of the distinguishing features of Pierrot à la guitare, namely the actress leaning to her neighbor and the still life with roses in the foreground.
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Pierrot à la guitare (copy 3)
Entered December 2024
Whereabouts unknown
Oil on canvas
Measurements unknown
ALTERNATIVE TITLES
Les Indiscrets
PROVENANCE
Versailles, sale, Trianon Palace, February 26, 1967, lot 28: “PHILIPPE MERCIER . . . LES INDISCRETS. Peinture sur toile, encadré. Ce tableau, extrèmement proche de WATTEAU et donné comme une oeuvre de ce derneir en 1933 par M. Louis HOMSTICK. Conservateur au Musée du Louvre, a été restituté à Philippe MERCIER. Un tableau du même artiste, «Les conjurés» figurant au Louvre dans la Collection LACAZE où ile était donné comme WATTEAU, vient d’être récenment restitué à MERCIER.”
REMARKS
The proposed attribution to Mercier is unjustified. That claim is simply one of the flags of convenience used by the art market when it is obvious that the work cannot be attributed to Watteau himself.
This picture retains much of the basic composition of Harlequin jaloux and Pierrot à la guitarre but it is a reduced version, lacking the upper half with its landscape, and the area to the left has been compressed, thus losing the actors intruding from the bushes. Importantly, it retains some of the distinguishing features of Pierrot à la guitare, namely the actress leaning toward her neighbor and the still life with roses in the foreground.
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