Nicolas Lancret

Reginald Vaile, Esq.;
His sale, London, Christie's, 23 May 1903, lot 37 for £2,500 to Agnews;
Charles Fairfax Murray (1849–1919), London; 
By whom sold, Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, 15 June 1914, lot 18;
With Georges Wildenstein, Paris, by 1924;
Confiscated from the above by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg;
Repatriated to France by the Allied Forces on 18 April 1946;
Restituted to Georges Wildenstein on 21 March 1947;
Mr. and Mrs. Charles F. Williams, Cincinnati;
Thence by descent until 2005;
Anonymous sale ('Property from a private collection, Ohio'), New York, Christie's, 26 January 2005, lot 47.

London, Guildhall Art Gallery, Catalogue of the Exhibition of a Selection of Works by French and English Painters of the Eighteenth Century, April–July 1902, p. 40, no. 35;
Glasgow, 1902;
San Francisco, The California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Exhibition of French Painting, from the Fifteenth Century to the Present Day, 1934, p. 38, no. 35.

London, Guildhall Art Gallery, Catalogue of the Exhibition of a Selection of Works by French and English Painters of the Eighteenth Century, April - July 1902, p. 40, cat. no. 35;
G. Wildenstein, Lancret, Paris 1924, p. 81, cat. no. 145, reproduced plate no. 207.

The following condition report is provided by Alex France who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: Structural Condition The canvas appears lined and is securely attached to a keyed wooden stretcher with an additional unattached loose lining which is inscribed in the upper left on the reverse. Paint Surface The paint surface has a relatively even varnish layer. There is a pattern of slightly raised craquelure throughout the composition which appears stable. The composition appears to have been extended, by 9 cm on the left edge, 1.5 cm on the upper edge, 2 cm on the right edge and 3.5 cm on the lower edge. All of these areas are now covered by the frame rebate. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows scattered retouchings within the main body of the composition including within the trees, within and around the figures and a slightly larger area within the upper right of the trees. There are also intermittent retouchings corresponding to the inner edges of the extensions, most notably a band corresponding to the left vertical extension and a large area of retouching in the upper right corner. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in reasonably good and stable condition.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

The inscription on the the reverse of this painting tells us that it was painted in 1732, at a time when Lancret was at the height of his powers. His mastery of the fête galante ensured that his paintings of outdoor scenes populated by amorous couples and musicians were sought after by the major patrons of his day, from Louis XV to Frederick the Great. Indicative of Lancret’s maturity are the graceful figures, reduced in number and larger within the picture space. Indeed Le Menuet invites close comparison to, and holds its own against, Lancret’s finest works of this period, such as The Birdcage of 1735, today in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich.¹ The present work is particularly noticeable for its daring colour combinations, with its palette of salmon pinks, yellows and blues.

Poised in mid-step, the dancing couple portrayed here by Lancret are performing the menuet ('The Minuet'). First attested to in 1664, the dance was extremely popular at the court of Louis XIV and continued to be in vogue far into the eighteenth century, dominating aristocratic ballrooms across Europe. This movement, for a couple, was controlled, ceremonious and graceful, and always performed with small steps. The motif of the female dancer was important to Lancret, who painted other portraits of celebrated ballerinas in outdoor settings around the same time as the present work. The most famous of these was perhaps that of Marie Anne de Cupis de Camargo, known as 'La Camargo', who was painted four times by Lancret between 1729-30, with the most elaborate version being that in the National Gallery, Washington.² The dancing girl in Le Menuet, like the depiction of La Camargo, balances on a single foot and tilts her torso, raising one hand elegantly in the air. Both wear the shorter dress popularised by La Camargo, which allowed the audience to see the feet of the dancer.

The present work also unusual and possibly unique in that it too includes a portrait, that - according to the inscription on the reverse - of the hurdy-gurdy player in the centre. Following the example set by Watteau, who experimented with inserting portraits into his fêtes, such as the likely portrait of the great actor Paul Soissons in the figure of Crispin in Love in the French Theatre, in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin,³ here Lancret inserts a seemingly faithful likeness into a theme which is in itself not a work of portraiture. This is in contrast to more conventional portraits, such as the aforementioned versions of La Camargo or Lancret's painting of The Luxembourg Family, in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond.⁴ The idea seems to have come to Lancret late in the conception of this work, as the portrait seems to have been painted over an existing head. Perhaps the work was intended as a gift to, or commissioned by, the man represented by this likeness, identified by the inscription only as Monsieur Mestais, a parliamentary lawyer.

The composition was repeated in another painting by Lancret, sold at Sotheby’s New York, 28 January 2005, lot 231. The only differences are the addition of a table and extra seated female figure at each extremity, as well as the decision to place the figures and vegetation against what is presumably the wall of a garden.

1. R. an der Heiden, Die Alte Pinakothek; Sammlungsgeschichte Bau und Bider, Munich 1998, reproduced p. 521.

2. Inv. no. 1937.1.89. See European Paintings: an Illustrated Summary Catalogue, National Gallery of Art, Washington 1975, reproduced pp.186-7.

3. See Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Gesamtverzeichnis der Gemälde, London 1986, p. 80, cat. no. 468 and p. 532, reproduced figure 1561.

4. Inv. no. 57-37. See European Art in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond 1966, p. 40, reproduced cat. no. 55.