William Bouguereau

Knoedler & Company, New York (purchased directly from the artist)
Arthur Tooth & Sons, Paris, May 31, 1894 (acquired from the above)
Cooper Gallery (acquired from the above)
Collection of Charles Lockhart, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (acquired from the above)
Private Collection, United Kingdom
Sale: Sotheby Parke Bernet, London, June 18, 1969, lot 86 (as Cupid)
Private Collection, Chicago and sold: Sotheby's, New York, October 29, 2002, lot 40, illustrated
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

London, Royal Academy, Annual Exhibition, 1894
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Art Galleries, Opening Exhibition, 1895

Marius Vachon, W. Bouguereau, Paris, 1900, p. 158 (as L'Amour à l'Épine)
Mark Steven Walker, "A Summary Catalogue of the Paintings," in William-Adolphe Bouguereau: L'Art Pompier, exh. cat., New York, 1991, p. 74
DeCourcy McIntosh, "Demand and Supply: The Pittsburgh Art Trade and M. Knoedler & Co.," Collecting in the Gilded Age, Art Patronage in Pittsburgh, 1890-1910, exh. cat., Pittsburgh, 1997, pp 114-115, illustrated p. 116 

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. This painting is in remarkably good condition. The large piece of canvas is unlined and is well-stretched on what appears to be the original stretcher. The paint layer is lightly cracked but not disturbingly so and it is not necessary to line the picture at this time. The painting has been cleaned and varnished and is well-installed in its elaborate frame. There do not appear to be any retouches either under ultraviolet light or to the naked eye, and any slight thinness to the paint, for instance in the fountain behind the figure, is intentional. The figures themselves are in beautiful state with no damages or restorations. There is very slight cracking visible in the dress of the woman. The picture is in perfect condition and should be hung as is.
"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."

Painted in the winter of 1894.

Bouguereau began to incorporate themes from Graeco-Roman mythology into his oeuvre beginning in 1880, a period best referred to as Tableaux de Fantaisie. These works provide the viewer entry into a marvelous 'land of plenty,' where humans, heroes, gods and demi-gods live in perfect harmony, bliss and peace.

Approximately sixty works by Bouguereau handle the theme of 'love' of all ages. However, if we remove the very young and innocent "Putti," who murmur sweet nothings into the ears of innocent maidens, Bouguereau hardly left us more than ten paintings projecting his true vision of the adolescent Eros, the young spoiled child of Venus, at times silent, at others teasingly playful, but always quick to aim and release his cruel arrow.

Among the many famous images of Eros within Bouguereau's oeuvre, one must cite the Psyché et l'Amour series, most notably L'Amour au Papillon; Amour à l'affut; L'Amour mouillé; Aux Aguets; Amour voltigeant sur les eaux as well as the superb painting, albeit destroyed Offrande à l'Amour, a magical incarnation of harmony and creative power.

The present work counts among these famous images. Painted in 1894, the model for L'Amour à l'épine, undoubtedly idealized by Bouguereau, is an adolescent that appears in two other works by the master, L'Amour piqué of the same year, and Aux aguets of 1896.

In addition, the present work offers an apt comparison to the highly celebrated and studied Spinario sculpture from antiquity, which shows a young boy removing a thorn from his foot.

Cie Braun & Clément reproduced this image in several formats, catalogued under number 4228. When L'Amour á l'épine was purchased by Pittsburgh oil millionaire Charles Lockhart, it was the "first recorded Pittsburgh acquisition with an international exhibition history", (p. 115). Lockhart's collection was repeatedly cited as "one of the finest and most valuable collections in Pittsburgh" (as quoted in McIntosh, p. 80). Lockhart and his wife were very private about their collecting habits and while they acquired many artists in fashion at the time, such as Bouguereau, they also sought out French military painting and Belgian genre scenes, two collecting categories that set them apart from their contemporaries and signalled an independent-mindedness in the pursuit of their passion.

We would like to thank Damien Bartoli for kindly providing this catalogue note (translated from the French). This painting will be included in the forthcoming Bouguereau catalogue raisonné being prepared by Damien Bartoli with the assistance of Fred Ross, the Bouguereau Committee, and the Art Renewal Center, www.artrenewal.org.