Marie-Victoire Lemoine

Hermann Ball Antiquitäten, Berlin, before 1928;
With Wildenstein, London;
With Louis Stern Galleries, Los Angeles;
Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 25 May 2005, lot 221.

J. Baillio, "Vie et Oeuvre de Marie Victoire Lemoine (1754-1820)," Gazette des Beaux Arts, April 1996, p. 150, cat. no. 17, reproduced p. 131, fig. 7.

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 has been restored and should be hung in its current condition. The canvas has an old glue lining that is probably about 100 years old. The lining is still active, and the paint layer is stable. Under ultraviolet light, one can see that tiny retouches have been added to reduce some of the cracking to the paint layer. The retouches are scarce in the faces and hands, and the sky is hardly retouched at all. The retouches are very accurate, and the work looks very well.
"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."

Marie-Victoire Lemoine studied under Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, the most important female painter in Paris at the time.  While many artists, including Le Brun, fled France surrounding the Revolution given their associations with the court, others, like Lemoine, stayed and enjoyed fresh opportunities from the upheaval.  In 1791, the new government opened up the biannual Salons to all artists, including women like Lemoine who had previously been held back by the Académie royale's limitations on the number of female members. Lemoine first exhibited at the Salon in 1796 and had a long career in Paris; she never married, but was able to support herself entirely by her painting, a remarkable feat at the time.