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X. L'Enchanteur

Entered August 2021

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

57.2 x 71.1 cm

 

PROVENANCE

New England (US), private collection.

Dallas, Texas, sale, Heritage Auctions, September 12-13, 2021, lot 87896: “Manner of Jean-Antoine WATTEAU . . . / L’Enchanteur / Oil on canvas / 27-½ x 28 inches (57.2 x 71.1 cm) / Presented in an elaborate carved and gilt openwork frame / PROVENANCE / Acquired by the present owner from a private New England collection, c. 1985 / This painting is based upon a small work by Watteau (19 x 26 cm.) in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Troyes, with a number of variations in costume and numbers of figures. Additionally, this composition reverses Watteau’s original, suggesting perhaps that it was made after a print, interestingly this painting may, in fact, provide important clues to the original appearance of many of the details in the painting in Troyes, which has undergone extensive restoration over the years.” Est. $4,000-6,000. The painting was sold for $3,125.

 

REMARKS

This picture is, essentially, a variation after Benoît Audran’s engraving of Watteau’s L’Enchanteur. The copyist added two figures to Watteau’s composition: a girl seen from behind and a Pierrot bending forward to embrace her at the shoulder. She may have been inspired by one of the similarly posed girls in the foregrounds of Watteau paintings such as Le Concert (Charlottenburg), Les Charmes de la vie (Wallace Collection)), and Assemblée dans un parc (Louvre).

 

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