Lot 136
  • 136

EMILE FRIANT | The frugal meal

Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 EUR
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Description

  • Emile Friant
  • The frugal meal
  • Signed and dated lower right E. Friant / 94
  • Oil on panel
  • 29,5 x 37,5 cm ; 11 3/4 by 14 3/4 in.

Provenance

C. Coquelin Collection ;
His sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 9 June 1906, n° 42 (illustrated) ;
Purchased at the above by Louis Corbin ;
His sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 19 & 20 October 1936, lot 89 ;
Purchased from the above by the current owner's grandfather

Exhibited

Musée de Nancy, 1894 ;
Salon de la société nationale des Beaux-Arts
, Paris, 1894, n°476 ;
Salon de Nancy, Nancy, 31st October - 2 December 1894 ;
Salon de la Société des Amis des Arts, Nantes, 1st February -1st March 1895, n°151 ;
Salon de la société Lorraine des Amis des Arts, Nancy, 1909, n°8 ;
Rétrospective des meilleures oeuvres d'artistes lorrains récompensés aux Salons parisiens, Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Nancy, 1909 ;
Les Pompiers, 1ère exposition, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1912, n°30 ;
Probably, Exposicion de pintura francesa contemporanea 1870-1918, Madrid, 1918, n°80 ;
Salon de la Société des Artistes français, Paris, 1921, n°829 (belonging to Louis Corbin) ;
Émile Friant, regard sur l'homme et l'œuvre, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nancy, 8 July - 4 October 1988, illustrated in color p.40 n°16, described p.9 and p.13 ;
De Charles de Meixmoron à Etienne Cournault. Rétrospective 1892 - 1950, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nancy, 18 January - 18 April 1993, n°18 ;
Collecting in the Gilded Age, Art patronage in Pittsburgh 1890-1910, The Frick Art Museum, Pittsburgh, 6 April - 29 June 1997, n° 92, illustrated p. 255;
Emile Friant un nouveau regard, Musée Georges de la Tour, Vic-sur-Seille, 10 June - 3 September 2006, illustrated n°95, p.64 ;
Emile Friant, le dernier naturaliste ?, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nancy, 4 November 2016 - 27 February 2017, n°55a, illustrated p. 123.

Literature

Maurice Garçot, "Emile Friant", in Revue Lorraine Illustrée, Nancy, Imprimeries Réunies, 1931, mentionned p. 76 ;
Arsène Alexandre, Emile Friant et son oeuvre, Nancy, 1946, described p.19-20, illustrated pl.VII ;
Henri Claude, Friant, Vaux, 2005, illustrated p.104 and a detail p.105 ;
Exhibition catalogue, A l'épreuve du réel, Les peintres et la photographie au XIXe siècle, Musée Gustave Courbet, Ornans, 30 June - 1st October 2012, illustrated p. 131

Condition

- two traces of dirt in the upper right - under UV light, very thin scratch in the upper left. Perfect condition.
"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

In the 1880's and 1890's, Friant depicts genre scenes showing the lifestyle of humble people in a naturalist fashion. Jules Rais rightly notes in La Lorraine artiste of 18 November 1894: "Above all Mr Friant appreciates the humble."
Emile Friant knows well the family portrayed here : Eugénie Ledergerber's, his life-long partner, is shown in the foreground wearing a red blouse with her younger sister, Jeanne, sitting in the background. Exhibited three times in 1894, this small-scale painting received positive criticism for the humanity it depicts. With this subject matter, Friant works in the wake of the Le Nain brothers' pictures of peasant meals and Van Gogh's famous The Potato Eaters of 1885.