Watteau Abecedario: L’Amant repoussé (copies)

X. L’Amant repoussé (copy 1)

Entered February 2020; revised April 2020

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

63 x 76 cm

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Der abgewiesene Liebhaber

Fête champêtre

PROVENANCE

Edinburgh, Lyon & Turnbull, November 27, 2014, lot 47; manner of Jean Antoine Watteau, sold for £2,250.

Rhineland, private collection.

Dusseldorf, sale, Hargesheimer, March 14, 2020, lot 1668: “ANTOINE WATTEAU (ATTR.) . . . / LE AMAND REPUSSE [sic] (DER ABGEWIESENE LIEBHABER) / Öl auf Leinwand (doubl.) 64 cm x 77 cm (R 77 cm x 93 cm). Part. leicht altrest. Rahmen, Das Gemälde galt lange Zeit als verschollen. Wie Sunderland in seinem 1968 erschienen Werkverzeihnis, The complete paintings of Watteau erwähnt, scheint das Gemälde 1945 auf den Pariser Kunstmarkt gekommen zu sein. Laut Mariette erschien die ,Gravur’ zu dem Werk bereits 1724 und wurde von Mercier gestochen (Vatteau Pinxit), jedoch nicht für das Oeuvre gravé. Es gibt insgesamt drei bekannte Vorstudien Watteaus zu dem Gemälde: eine Studie zu dem stehenden Mann rechts, weiterhin zu der sitzenden Dame im Bildzentrum sowie eine Studie zu dem Musiker. Literatur: Goncourt 1875 (Nr. 101). Dacier 1923 (Nr. 308). L. Reau 1925 (Nr. 134). John Sunderland 1986 (Nr. 111). Provenienz. Rheinische Privatsammlung.” Sold for €12,000.

REMARKS

The painting is in the same direction as Mercier’s print, and may be the nicest of the several copies after it. But it does not show any of the characteristics of Mercier’s painting style.

X. L’Amant repoussé (copy 2)

Entered February 2020

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

35.6 x 45.1 cm

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Fête champêtre

PROVENANCE

England, collection of D. P. Clifford

REMARKS

This painting is known through a photograph in the Witt Library, where it is classified under Lancret’s name and labeled “School of Lancret.” However, it is unrelated to the work of that Watteau satellite.

X. L’Amant repoussé (copy 3)

Entered February 2020; revised October 2021

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on panel

33 x 41.9 cm

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Figures in a wooded landscape

PROVENANCE

Collection of Hervey Bruce Gore Derek Clark. His and others’ sale, Dublin, Town & Country Estates, September 19, 1956, lot 215: “PATER, JEAN BAPTISTE . . . Figures in a wooded landscape, on panel. 13” x 16½“.”

REMARKS

This copy after Mercier’s composition is unrelated to the work of Pater or any other French follower of Watteau. It copies Mercier's L'Amant repoussé and would seem to be in the same sense as Mercier’s original painting. As best as can be told from the very small and dark image in the sale catalogue, Mercier's hand is not visible.

X. L’Amant repoussé (copy 4)

Entered February 2020

Whereabouts unknown

Medium unknown

Measurements unknown

PROVENANCE

Paris, art market

SELECT BIBLIOGRAHY

Adhémar, Watteau (1950), under cat. 219.

Macchia and Montagni, L’opera completa di Watteau, under cat. 111.

REMARKS

A copy after L’Amant repoussé was said to have been on the Paris art market c. 1945-50 but it has not been possible to find a photo or detailed description of the work. It may be that this copy is one of those presented here.

X. L’Amant repoussé (copy 5)

Entered February 2021; revised March 2021

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

37 x 47 cm

PROVENANCE

Lyon, Conan Hôtel d'Ainay, March 2, 2021, lot 456: “MERCIER Philippe (Suite de) . . . L’Amant repoussé / Huile sur toile d’origine. Ancien chassis à écharpe (Accidents et marques; restaurations; ancient vernis encrassé) H. 37 – L. 47 cm / Sur le cadre un cartouche M. B. Ollivier renvoie au peintre Michel Barthélémy Ollivier (1712-1784).” Estimation 300-500€. Sold for 650€.

REMARKS

This painting seems to have gone under the radar and escaped scholarly attention, either as a work by Watteau or by Mercier, whose etching this painting copies in reverse. As the cartouche on the frame shows, the picture at one time passed under an attribution to Michel Barthélémy Ollivier, which is certainly an unconvincing idea.

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