Lot 410
  • 410

VIRGINIE DEMONT-BRETON | Fillette à la guirlande de fleurs des champs

Estimate
30,000 - 40,000 USD
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Description

  • Virginie Demont-Breton
  • Fillette à la guirlande de fleurs des champs
  • signed Virginie Demont-Breton (lower left)
  • oil on canvas
  • 20 by 15 1/2 in.
  • 50.8 by 39.4 cm

Provenance

Knoedler & Co., Paris (acquired directly from the artist in May 1892)
Private Collection, New York (probably acquired before 1950)
Private Collection (by descent from the above)
Private Collection (gifted from the above)
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Condition

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This work is unlined. There are four thin reinforcements on the reverse, which correspond to a few small areas of retouching on the surface. There is restoration in the upper left leg of the seated girl and a spot in her left bicep. There is a restoration near the top of the mountain in the distance running into the sky. There is a small restoration directly above the top of the head. The paint layer is clean and otherwise in beautiful condition.
"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

Virginie Demont-Breton enjoyed international success during her lifetime exhibiting at the Salon des Artistes Français and other European exhibitions, and having her work represented by the powerful dealers Knoedler and Goupil, who provided her with access to the American art market. Demont-Breton began work on the present composition in February 1892, and in June of that year Knoedler purchased the painting and likely brought it back to New York.

Fillette à la guirlande de fleurs des champs depicts a young shepherdess taking respite from her work by making flower garlands. The setting is the village of Wissant, a rural seaside community which drew many artists at the turn of the century. Though a young peasant girl's day would have been made up of work in the field, Demont-Breton has instead chosen to focus on a sweet, restful moment in verdant fields, with the Mont de Couple visible in the background, far from the rapid modernization and industrial advances of the urban centers of France in the late nineteenth century. 


We would like to thank Annette Bourrut Lacouture for confirming the authenticity of this lot.