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Les Bergers (copy 1)
Entered July 2016; revised March 2017

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

55.2 x 78.4 cm

 

PROVENANCE

London, collection of Hugh Percy Lane (1875-1915; art dealer and collector).

Paris, collection of the marquis de Chaponay

Paris, Wildenstein & Co.

Paris, collection of Sigismund Reitlinger (1840-1911; businessman); by descent to his daughter Jeanne Lise Reitlinger

Paris, collection of Jeanne Lise Kann (1882-1961; wife of Émile Kann)

Paris, collection of Max Kann, 1955

Paris, Christie's, June 24, 2004, Lot 127: “D’APRES JEAN-ANTOINE WATTEAU / Les Bergers / Huile sur toile / 55 x 78 cm. (21½ x 30¾ in.) / Estimation €6,000-8,000   US $7,200-9,600 / GBP 4,100-5,400 / PROVENANCE: Marquis de Chaponay. Avec la Galerie Wildenstein, Paris. Sigismond Reitlinger; par heritage à sa fille. Mme Emile Kann. Max Kann, 1955.
   BIBLIOGRAPHIE: H. Adhémar, Watteau, sa vie, son oeuvre, Paris, 1950, p. 219, cité sous note 143.  E.C. Montagni, L’opera completa di Watteau, Milan, 1968, p. 116, sous no. 176. M. Sanvoisin, dans catalogue d’exposition Pélerinage à Watteau, Paris, Hôtel de la Monnaie, 1977, pp. 112, 115. M.M. Grasselli, P. Rosenberg, dans catalogue d’exposition, Watteau 1684-1721, Washington, 1983-1984, sous no. 53. Ce tableau reprend une composition de Watteau conservé au Schloss Charlottenburg à Berlin.
   SHEPHERDS, OIL ON CANVAS / AFTER JEAN-ANTOINE WATTEAU.”

 

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Réau, “Watteau” (1928), under cat. 77.
 
Paris, Palais national, Chefs-d’oeuvre (1937), under cat. 234.

Adhémar, Watteau (1950), under cat. 143.

Berlin, Schloss Charlotenburg, Meisterwerke (1962), 91.

Paris, Louvre, Peinture française (1963), under cat. 34.

Macchia and Montagni, L’opera completa di Watteau (1968), under cat. 176.

Ferré, Watteau (1972), cat. B38.

Washington, Paris, and Berlin, Watteau 1684-1721 (1984), under cat. 53.

Vogtherr, Französische Gemälde (2011), under cat. 4.

 

REMARKS

Ferré classified this picture and Watteau’s original in Berlin as equals, listing both as just “peintures attribués à Watteau.” However, the Berlin painting is universally and rightly, recognized to be Watteau's autograph work, while this version is clearly inferior in quality.

 

 

Les Bergers (copy 2)
Entered July 2016; revised March 2017

 

Whereabouts unknown
 
Oil on canvas

Dimensions unknown

 

REMARKS

The painting is known through a good photograph apparently made after World War II. Unfortunately, there are no annotations on it to indicate the ownership or measurements. As noted under copy 1, there has been some confusion between these two copies.

There are some differences between this picture and Watteau’s original composition. Most notably, the man pushing the swing is lacking and the arrangement of the trees at the right is different

 

 

Les Bergers (copy 3)
Entered July 2016

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

54 x 59.1 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

An Elegant Couple Dancing and other Figures at Play in a Landscape

Elegante Gesellschaft bei Spiel und Tanz in einer Landschaft
           

PROVENANCE

New York, Sotheby’s, Property of an Estate, May 16, 1996, lot 234: “Attributed to Jean-Baptiste Pater . . . AN ELEGANT COUPLE DANCING AND OTHER FIGURES AT PLAY IN A PASTORAL LANDSCAPE. Oil on canvas / 21¼ by 23¼ in. 54 by 59.1 cm. The present picture repeats the composition of a work by Watteau which hangs in the Neue Palais, Potsdam / (see Hélène Adhémar et René Huyghe, Watteau sa vie, son oeuvre, illus., plate 75, cat 143). $10,000 -15,000.” Bought in.

New York, Sotheby’s, Property of an Estate, October 3, 1996, lot 155: “Attributed to Jean-Baptiste Pater . . . AN ELEGANT COUPLE DANCING AND OTHER FIGURES AT PLAY IN A PASTORAL LANDSCAPE. Oil on canvas / 21¼ by 23¼ in. 54 by 59.1 cm. The present lot repeats the composition of a work by Watteau which hangs in the Neue Palais, Potsdam / (see Hélène Adhémar et René Huyghe, Watteau sa vie, son oeuvre, illus., plate 75, cat 143). $5,000-7,000.” Sold for $2,875.

Vienna, Dorotheum, March 12, 1998, lot 110: “Jean-Baptiste Pater . . . zugeschrieben / Elegante Gesellschaft bei Spiel und Tanz in einer Landschaft, Öl auf Leinwand, 54 x 59 cm, originaler, geschnitzter, vergoldeter Rokoko-Rahmen, (Wo). ATS 200.000-250.000 / US $ 16.300-20.300”

London, Christie’s South Kensington, July 8, 1998, lot 254: “FOLLOWER OF JEAN-BAPTISTE WATTEAU / A Fête Champêtre / oil on canvas / 22 ½ x 24 ¼ in. (57.2 x 61.61.6 cm.) £2,500-3,500.”

 

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Vogtherr, Französische Gemälde (2011), under cat. 4.

 

REMARKS

This version lacks the right third of Watteau’s composition.