John Duncan Fergusson 1874-1961

Purchased from the artist by the present owners

The following condition report has been provided by Hamish Dewar Fine Art Conservation, 14 Mason's Yard, St James's, London, SW1Y 6BU, tel; 0207 930 4004. hamish@hamishdewar.co.uk STRUCTURAL CONDITION The canvas is unlined and providing a sound and stable support. Inscriptions are visible on the reverse of the canvas. PAINT SURFACE Under ultra-violet light only a few very small retouchings can be seen. These are covering very small areas of paint loss and are most noticeable in the sitter's arm. Lines of craquelure appear throughout the paint surface and though they appear slightly raised, they are all stable. Old paint losses are visible around the edges of the painting, and it would appear that the artist has repainted over these areas at a later date, perhaps as a result of an increased right edge. These areas have been inspected in studio conditions and they do not fluoresce as later retouchings by another hand. The varnish surface is even. SUMMARY The painting therefore appears to be in good and stable condition and no further work is required.
"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."

The present painting depicts the beautiful and talented Anne Estelle Rice, John Duncan Fergusson's muse and companion from his early years in Paris. Rice was born to Irish-American parents in Conchohocken in Philadelphia in 1877 and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in her home city and worked for a time as an illustrator for the North American and Saturday Evening Post, but it was her time in France in the early twentieth century that her distinctive style developed. Rice first visited France in 1906, traveling with the aim of making illustrations of fashionable society for Wanamaker's department store. She became a member of the Societaire de Salon d'Automne a year later around the time that she held her first solo exhibition in London, at the Baillie Gallery. Around this time she met John Duncan Fergusson who was delighted by her beauty, intellect and talent. 'Rice's vivacious personality provided a good match for Fergusson. She shared his curiosity and love of adventure, breaking with social convention in order to accompany him to venues that were then considered unacceptable to women.' (Kirsten Simister, Living Paint - J. D. Fergusson 1874-1961, 2001, p.37) By 1911 Rice had become a regular and significant contributor to Fergusson's journal Rhythm. Fergusson painted several striking portraits of Rice and for a time they were clearly extremely important to one another, both romantically and professionally. Although Rice and Fergusson's relationship did not last and she married the critic Raymond Drey in 1913 and began to spend much of her time in London rather than Paris, the influence of Fergusson remained strong in her work.

The present picture was painted at the Café d'Harcourt, a popular restaurant frequented by the avand garde of Paris. It was also known for the beautiful fashions of the pretty young milliners that socialised with the actors, writers and artists. Rice was not a milliner herself but her work for Wanamaker's store made her greatly interested in the latest French fashions. Fergusson was also interested in sartorial trends and in many of his pictures of this period he expressed a particular interest in large hats, evident in such works as Créme de Mente, Café d'Harcourt (sold in these rooms, 30 August 2000, lot 1285) and Le Manteau Chinois of the same year (Fergusson Gallery, Perth) and La Cocarde of 1910 (Christie's, Scotland, 7 December 1989, lot 314). The pose adopted for Anne Estelle Rice, Café d'Harcourt is similar to Fergusson's portrait of Jean Maconochie, The White Dress painted in 1904 (Fergusson Gallery, Perth) but is closer to another portrait of Rice entitled The Hat with the Pink Scarf of 1907 (Fergusson Gallery, Perth). Anne Estelle Rice, Café d'Harcourt also relates to The Blue Hat, Closerie des Lilas of 1909 (Edinburgh City Council) in which Rice is seated at a table at the popular restaurant, turned in profile as though deep in conversation with an unseen fellow diner. In the present picture she gazes out with dark enigmatic eyes and the suggestion of a welcoming smile spreading across her red lips. The intimacy of the expression and the relaxed pose are indicative of the closeness between the model and the artist, a record of an intense romance. The elegance and energetic joi de vie of Paris at this time are captured in the shimmering refractions of tone and flashes of deep colour. There are echoes of Manet's sophisticated depictions of women, but this is no mere pastiche. Fergusson had taken the glamorous spirit of Manet's milliners and models but expressed the modernity of his vision of Parisian fashion in the expressive brush stokes and bold colouring.

Fergusson settled in Paris in 1907 at Boulevard Edgar Quinet with a retainer to produce illustrations of café life for an American magazine. He became a habitué of the Montparnasse and Montmatre areas  in particular and often spent his afternoons and evenings at the Pre-Catalan Restaurant, the Closerie des Lilas and the Café d'Harcourt. His circle of friends included the artists Bertha Case, Jo Davidson, the poet Roffy and the mathematician and aviator La Torrie and the writers John Middleton Murray and Katherine Mansfield. He mixed freely with some of the greatest French avand-garde artists of the day such as Matisse, Derain, Delauney and Dunoyer de Segonzac. Their common interest in exploring and developing the properties of colour, volume and line to depict how they felt about what they saw, was a driving force. Café society was central to their camaraderie; it was the meeting place of the Parisian intelligentsia. Fergusson produced a group of watercolours including The Paris Cafe (sold Sotheby's, Hopetoun House, 24 April 2006, lot 141),pencil sketches (examples sold Sotheby's, Hopetoun House, 24 April 2006, lots 136-140). Fergusson also paintd a number of contemporary oils of similar subjects, including In the Café d'Harcourt c.1908 (Sotheby's, Gleneagles, 30 August 2006, 1027), La Terrasse, Café d'Harcourt c.1908 (private collection) Créme de Menthe, Café Harcourt (Sotheby's, Gleneagles, 30 August 2000, lot 1285).