Lot 58
  • 58

Jean-Baptiste Huët

Estimate
150,000 - 200,000 USD
Log in to view results
bidding is closed

Description

  • Jean-Baptiste Huët
  • Pastoral landscape with women preparing the wash
  • signed and dated lower left: J.B. hüet. 1777
  • gouache on paper mounted on canvas
  • 25 1/2 x 40 1/2 inches

Provenance

Possibly M. Laillié, Lyon, by 1777;
With Adrian Ward-Jackson, London, 1977;
The British Rail Pension Fund;
By whom sold, New York, Sotheby's, 30 January 1997, lot 99;
There acquired by the present collector.

Exhibited

Possibly exhibited at the Académie Royale, Paris, 1777, cat. no. 91 (Trophée Pastorale. Ce tableau de 2 pieds et un pouce, sur 23 pouces de large, appartient à M. Laillié; see Collection des Livrets des anciennes expositions depuis 1673 jusqu'en 1800, 1870, under 1777)

Condition

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work on paper is in remarkable condition, presumably having never been displayed except behind glass. The single piece of paper is unbroken. It seems that the paper may be stretched onto a stretcher with a backing canvas, but the canvas does not appear to be adhered to the paper. On the right side, the linen can be seen in the current frame, and there is what appears to be original color here, implying that the artist mounted the paper himself. There is one thin unrestored diagonal scratch in the paper in the upper right corner, but this is the only exception to an otherwise perfectly preserved work.
"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."

Catalogue Note

Jean-Baptiste Huët was an esteemed engraver and painter of the late eighteenth century. He began his artistic training with his father, Nicolas Huët, before being apprenticed to animal painter Charles Dagomer (1762/4 – before 1768) and later entering the studio of Jean-Baptiste Le Prince (1743-1781). Huët was received into the Académie Royale in 1769 with Dog Attacking Geese (Musée du Louvre, Paris) and regularly exhibited his acclaimed pastoral scenes and animal pictures there for another two decades.  

This large and highly finished gouache is typical of Huët's subject matter but remarkable in its considerable quality, elegance, and degree of finish.