Lot 16
  • 16

Albert Edelfelt

Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • Albert Edelfelt
  • Girl in a White Dress
  • signed and dated A. EDELFELT / 1883 centre right
  • oil on canvas
  • 41 by 33cm., 16 by 13in.

Provenance

Possibly, Mogens Andersen (1916-2003, Danish artist)
Jacques Massol (1918-2007, Paris art dealer at 12 rue la Boëtie between 1957-82; acquired circa the mid-20th century, possibly from the above); thence by descent

Literature

Probably, Bertel Hintze, Albert Edelfelt, Helsinki, 1942-44, vol. III: catalogue raisonné, no. 224 (as Porträtt av Mlle Foulc), or no. 225 (as Porträtt av Mlle Bocher)

Condition

The canvas is unlined. There is a faint stretcher mark and a fine pattern of craquelure consistent with an unlined painting of this age. Ultra-violet light reveals signs of green fluorescence in the background corresponding to the old varnish layers; only minor signs of retouching are visible, notably a thin line along the left edge addressing frame rubbing, strokes of strengthening in part of the red curtain to the right, and a small spot in the background to the left of the figure's neck. The figure herself appears to be untouched. This painting is in good, virtually original condition and ready to hang. Presented in a decorative gilt period frame with floral and foliate motifs.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Painted in the artist's Paris studio at 147 avenue de Villiers in 1883, the present work reveals Edelfelt as a successful portraitist. Depicted three-quarters, the young girl wears an elegant dress, painted by Edelfelt in a virtuoso, Whistler-esque 'symphony' of whites, her figure off-set against the red curtains. In this the composition particularly recalls the portrait of Edouard and Marie Louise Pailleron, painted two years earlier by Edelfelt's friend John Singer Sargent (fig. 1).

The present work followed Edelfelt's commission two years earlier to paint the children of Tsar Alexander III of Russia, Michail and Xenia (private collection), at a time when Finland was a Grand Duchy of Russia. The Tsar's Danish-born wife Dagmar, renamed Maria Feodorovna, commissioned the portrait and was evidently pleased with the result, as she then invited Edelfelt to paint Under the Birches. Using his younger sisters Annie (16) and Berta (13), Edelfelt painted the two girls relaxing in the woods near his summer home in Haiko, near Porvoo in Finland. Exhibited to acclaim at the Galerie Georges Petit in December 1882, Edelfelt's success likely led directly to the request to paint the present work. A profusion of major portraits followed, including those of Louis Pasteur in 1885 (Musée d'Orsay, Paris), Finnish opera singer Aino Ackté in 1901 (Ateneum, Helsinki) and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia himself in 1896 (Helsinki University).

Having honed his skills as a painter of historical subjects first at the Art Society in Helsinki and later in Antwerp, Edelfelt moved to Paris where he fell under the spell of the 'New Painting' - notably the plein air naturalism of Bastien-Lepage, and also of the Impressionists, who held their first group show the year of his arrival in 1874. From this point on, Edelfelt developed a new aesthetic, drawing on everyday subjects painted in a luminous, bravura palette, and culminating in his most impressionistic painting of all, In the Luxembourg Gardens, Paris (1887, Helsinki, Ateneum). The leading Finnish artist of the late 19th century, Edelfelt was the first of his compatriots to win a medal at the Paris Salon.

The present work is likely to be one of the two portraits of young girls recorded in Hintze's catalogue raisonné (no. 224 or 225). In a letter to his mother on 10 May 1885, Edelfelt noted that Mlle Foulc, the sitter of the former work, had become a beautiful young lady, and the following year it was suggested that they should marry.