François Hubert Drouais and Studio

Eugène Kraemer (1852-1912), Paris;
His Estate sale, Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, 5-6 May 1913, lot 17;
There purchased by the Marquis de Reinach Cessac;
Saint-Sauveur collection, France;
From whom acquired by Wildenstein, Paris and New York, in December 1929;
From whom acquired by Thomas M. Cole, Harrison, New York, in October 1969;
From whom acquired by the present owner in 1978.

Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Art Museum, French Paintings of the 18^th and early 19^th Centuries, 2 October - 7 November 1937, no. 5;
New York, Wildenstein, Fashion in Headdress: 1450-1943, 27 April - 27 May 1943, no. 56;
Louisville, Kentucky, J.B. Speed Art Museum, Woman in French Painting, December 1950 (no catalogue);
Syracuse, New York, University Art Museum, Old Masters: 100 Years of Painting, 7 February - 2 March 1952, no. 2;
Caracas, Museo de Bellas Artes, Obras clasicas de la pintura europea, January 1956, no. 17, reproduced on cover;
Jacksonville, Florida, Cummer Gallery of Art, Masterpieces of French Painting Through Two and a Half Centuries, 10 November - 31 December 1961, p, 14, no number, reproduced p. 13.

This picture is in beautiful condition and could be hung in its current state. The lining is old, but has not affected the paint layer in any significant way. The coloration is very strong and the picture has retained much of its original detailing. UV light shows almost zero retouches, only two tiny brushstroke size retouches along the neck. The varnish is very fresh. In a carved gilt wood period frame.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Another version of this portrait in rectangular format, signed and dated 1768, is in the collection of the office of the Soprintendenza per I beni architettonici e il paessaggio per il Piemonte, Turin (inv. no. 7035).¹  That version, which has provenance from the House of Savoy, was recently tentatively identified as the Savoyard princess Maria Giuseppina who, in 1771, married Louis Stanislaus, Comte de Provence, the future Louis XVIII of France.

 

1.  See V. Natale in Il Neoclassicismo in Italia da Tiepolo a Canova, exhibition catalogue, Milan 2002, p. 499, cat. no. XII.10, reproduced p. 321.