Lot 542
  • 542

Marie-Geneviève Bouliar

Estimate
25,000 - 35,000 USD
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Description

  • Marie-Geneviève Bouliar
  • Portrait of a lady wearing a floral wreath, possibly as Flora
  • inscribed on the stretcher: Mlle Bouliard
  • oil on canvas

Exhibited

Paris, Salon du Louvre, September 1791, no. 324 ('Tête de Femme couronnée de roses. Par Mlle. Bouliard'), awarded the prix d’encouragement in 1792;
Paris, Salon de la Société des Amis des Arts, 1791, no. 85 ('Melle Boulliard. Une tête de femme couronnée de roses').

Literature

L. Govier, 'Bouliar, Marie-Geneviève', in D. Gaze (ed.), Dictionary of women artists, London and Chicago 1997, vol. I, p. 296, under cat. no. 7;
P. Sanchez, Dictionnaire des artistes exposant dans les salons des XVIIIemesiècles à Paris et en province. 1673-1800, Dijon 2004, vol. I, p. 232;
Y. Jackall, 'Recovering the work of Marie-Geneviève Bouliar (1763-1825). The invention of self in Revolutionary France', in Les cahiers d'Histoire de l'Art, no. 7, 2009, pp. 50 and 59, notes 20 and 22;
Y. Jackall, ‘Un nouveau tableau de Marie-Geneviève Bouliar’, in Les cahiers d’Histoire de l’Art, no. 12, 2014, p. 81.

Condition

Canvas has been relined. Surface is under an uneven old varnish. Overall there is very good retention of the paint surface with lovely detail. There is a craquelure pattern, mostly noticeable on her chest but which is not too distracting. There are some old, small and crudely done retouches in left side of hair and in background. Other minor scuffs and abrasions. Under UV: old retouches as mentioned; a few other old retouches can be seen in the blue shawl. This painting would benefit from sensitive restoration and a re-addressing of the old presently visible retouches which will improve the appearance. Offered in a gilt wood frame with some nicks and losses to the gilding.
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.

Catalogue Note

This work is an exciting rediscovery in the oeuvre of Bouliar, a relatively little-known portraitist and history painter, notwithstanding the high critical claim and official recognition accorded to her paintings during her lifetime. Indeed, on the presentation of this work at the Salon of 1791, Bouliar’s first exhibition, a commentator likened her skill to that of the highly-respected Jean-Baptiste Regnault: 'Ma foi! Si tu ne m’avais pas nommé l’auteur de ce chef d’oeuvre, j’allais, au charme et à la fraicheur qui y règnent, le donner à M. Regnault. Quoi de plus joli, de plus gracieux, de plus séduisant…!'1 In 1997, Louis Govier suggested that another painting, known only in a monochrome image until its re-emergence on the market in 2013, may be synonymous with the 'Tête de Femme couronnée de roses’ exhibited in 1791.2 That picture, however, represents a lady with a floral corsage rather than a crown of roses and, moreover, it is signed and dated 1785. As well as a discrepancy in the description, it seems unlikely that the artist would have submitted a work for the Salon executed six years previously.3

We are grateful to Dr. Yuriko Jackall for confirming the attribution to Bouliar and for identifying the present work as that exhibited in the 1791 Salon, no. 324, on the basis of digital images.

1. La Béquille de Voltaire au Salon. Seconde et dernière promenade [], Coll. Deloynes, XVII, p. 439.
2. See Govier (under Literature) for this argument. The painting was sold by descendants of the Hirsch family, Paris, Artcurial, 10 April 2013, lot 157.
3. For a full discussion of the ex-Hirsch painting and its relationship with the present work, see Jackall 2014 (under Literature), pp. 80-82.