Francisco Miralles y Galup

Adriaan Beukenkamp, Harlaam, Netherlands, circa 1935
Janna G. Beukenkamp Niemhuys (by descent from the above, her father), Southfield, Connecticut, circa 1953
Thence by descent to the present owner, 2001

Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum, Masterworks from Private Connecticut Collections, October 1993-January 1994, illustrated p. 10

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: It seems that this painting has an old wax lining which stabilizes the surface, although the cracking in the sky is slightly raised. Under ultraviolet light the foreground has been partially cleaned and reads eccentrically. It seems more than likely that the only retouches are situated along the bottom edge on the left side and addressing a few isolated cracks in the sky coinciding with stretcher marks. Generally the picture is in lovely state although a fresh examination of the lining may improve the surface.
"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."

Francisco Miralles was born in the coastal city of Valencia, but moved to Paris with his family in 1866 and remained in the French capital for the next 27 years. He studied under Arturo Canela, whose studio became the meeting place for Catalán artists in the city. Fortuitously, his fellow countryman Eduardo Zamacois introduced him to the prestigious art dealer Adolphe Goupil, the agent for Boldini, Bouguereau, and Gérôme. Goupil commissioned numerous works from Miralles and steered him towards the subjects of elegant society for which he became best known. Miralles' talents as a painter soon became widely appreciated, and his work avidly collected. He became a regular exhibitor at the Paris Salons, in the Sala Parés in Barcelona and at numerous international exhibitions in London, Berlin, and America.

In The Upcoming Storm on the Bois du Boulogne, Miralles depicts the moments before a storm unfolds on the famous Parisian park. Created by Napoleon III and designed by Baron Haussmann in 1852, the Bois du Boulogne was the primary site of public spectacle in late nineteenth century Paris, even supplanting the grand boulevards. An expansive public park located on the western edge of the 16^th arrondissement in Paris, it is more than twice as large as Central Park in New York and over three times the size of Hyde Park in London. By the time of its completion, it boasted two artificial lakes connected by a waterfall, 22 miles of footpaths, 18 miles of riding paths, fine restaurants, a photography studio, the famous Longchamp Racecourse, steam-powered rail access, and a skating rink in the winter. For the Universelle Exposition in 1867, a group of French writers created a guidebook for Paris, stating "the Bois du Boulogne is the promenade of Europe," and the Champs-Elysées is "today no more than a grandiose and charming passage leading to the Bois de Boulogne" (as quoted in Greg M. Thomas, "Women in Public in the Parks of Paris," The Invisible Flâneuse? Gender, Public Space, and Visual Culture in nineteenth-century Paris, 2006, p. 41).