Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer

Lady Young;
Anonymous sale ("From a Deceased's Estate"), London, Christie's, 24 May 1991, lot 99, for £55,000;
With Rafael Valls, London (according to a label on the reverse);
Private collection, England.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The original canvas is lined and the paint layer is stable. The visibly patchy original background colour has been augmented. Some of the more vulnerable glazes in the flowers , particularly the reds of the peonies and the carnations, have been slightly abraded. Otherwise the paint is crisp giving the flowers a strong sculptural quality. The varnish is only slightly discoloured."
"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."

Monnoyer was born in Lille in 1636 and first studied in Antwerp. By 1650 he had moved to Paris where he collaborated on the decoration of the Hôtel Lambert. Success was not slow in coming: in 1665 he was received into the Académie Royale and in 1673 he exhibited four paintings in the Paris Salon.  His influence in the Académie was such that by 1679 he was appointed Conseiller de l'Académie.

Under the patronage of Charles Le Brun, Louis XIV's Minister of Arts, Monnoyer decorated royal palaces at Versailles, Vincennes, Trianon, Gobelins, where he collaborated with his son-in-law Jean-Baptiste Belin de Fontenay (1853-1715), and Marly. The king himself was so taken by the freshness of his innovative still lifes that he owned about sixty of his works.

Monnoyer's successes in France were repeated in England where he was invited by Ralph Montagu, later 1st Duke of Montagu (1638-1709). The English aristocracy were as disposed to his works as their French counterparts; his paintings could be found hanging in Windsor Castle, Kensington Palace and Montagu House.