William Bouguereau

Goupil & Cie, Paris, no. 4369 (acquired directly from the artist on July 23, 1869)
Wolfe, Dresden, Germany (acquired from the above, November 1869)
Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, New York
Hammer Galleries, New York
Sale: Sotheby's Parke-Bernet, New York, February 24, 1971, lot 16 (as Mother and Child Standing Before a Glade)
John Mulcahy, Ashford Castle, Cong, Ireland
Borghi & Co., New York

 

Paris, Musée du Petit-Palais; The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; Hartford, The Wadsworth Atheneum, William Bouguereau, February 1984-January 1985, no. 47, illustrated p. 47

Charles Vendryès, Dictionnaire illustré des Beaux-Arts: Bouguereau, Paris, 1869, p. 44
Edward Strahan, The Art Treasures of America, Philadelphia, 1879, vol. I, p. 129 (as The Mother's Treasure)
Marius Vachon, W. Bouguereau, Paris, 1900, p. 149
Mark Steven Walker, "A Summary Catalogue of the Paintings," William-Adolphe Bouguereau, L'Art Pompier, exh. cat., New York, 1991, p. 67 

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting has been recently restored and should be hung as is. The canvas has been lined, the surface is stable and the paint layer is secure. The paint layer is most likely slightly dirty but cleaning is not recommended. Under ultraviolet light some very recent spots of restoration are visible in the background immediately to the right of the mother's head. Beneath what appears to be a milky varnish, which slightly obscures restoration, there appears to be a few dots of retouch in the upper left corner, and on the upper right background above the baby's head. In this area generally there are some random spots of retouch which most likely address some thinness. There do not appear to be any retouches in the figures themselves. There is a slightly uneven quality through the neck and the right hand which may correspond to some retouches yet these are not visible to the naked eye and they are only faintly visible under ultraviolet light. Overall the picture looks well and no further restoration is recommended.
"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."

In the 1850s and early 1860s, the influential art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel - who ultimately became the champion of the Impressionists - was instrumental in steering Bouguereau away from more somber, religious images, toward gently moralizing genre scenes which held greater public appeal. Fronia Wissman writes "Bouguereau's pictures for Durand-Ruel were of two basic types: women in regional Italianate costume ...usually with a child, and classicizing themes" (Bouguereau, California, 1996, p. 33). Admiration Maternelle, showing a colorfully dressed Italian woman proudly displaying her sleeping baby, can be viewed as a secularized interpretation of the Madonna and Child. Painted in 1869 at the height of Bouguereau's "grand style" and shortly after the birth of his third son, this classically inspired image was greatly informed by Bouguereau's travels through Italy in the early 1850s. Trekking from Naples all the way to Venice over a two year period, Bouguereau was frequently confronted by religious imagery, in particular the works of Raphael. The baby is truly being presented to be admired - the mother pulls back the blanket to reveal its tiny cherubic face. The model is probably Nelly Bouguereau, the artist's first wife. There is an archival photograph of Bouguereau working on this painting in a private collection.

 

Admiration Maternelle was owned by philanthropist and art collector Catharine Lorillard Wolfe. Wolfe's father was a real-estate developer and her mother was an heir to the Lorillard Tobacco Company fortune. Wolfe was deeply devoted to philanthropic pursuits, which included generous gifts to Grace Episcopal Church and Union College, but perhaps her most high-profile endeavor involved her donation to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Wolfe was the only woman among its 106 founding members and ultimately bequeathed her entire painting collection, comprised of exceptional examples of popular artists of the time such as Bouguereau and Cabanel (who painted her portrait), to the institution in 1887. She also stipulated for a significant financial contribution of $200,000, which was the first permanent endowment fund for buying art ever given to a major American museum.