- 96
John Singer Sargent 1856 - 1925
Estimate
250,000 - 350,000 USD
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Description
- John Singer Sargent
- Mrs Reubell Seated in Front of a Screen
- signed and inscribed to Miss Reubell John S. Sargent, l.r.
- watercolor and gouache on paper
- 14 by 10 in.
- (35.6 by 25.4 cm)
- Executed circa 1884-5.
Provenance
R.H. Love Galleries, Inc., Chicago, Illinois
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 1991
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 1991
Exhibited
Chicago, Illinois, R.H. Love Galleries, Inc., Ladies in the Home and Garden: A Glimpse at Women Indoors and Out by American Artists 1850-1925, November 1992-January 1993
Literature
Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray, John Singer Sargent: The Early Portraits, New Haven, Connecticut, 1998, vol. 1, no. 151, p. 154, illustrated in color
Condition
Please contact the department at 212-606-7280 to obtain a copy of the condition report prepared by Julius Lowy Art Conservation.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
Below is an excerpt from John Singer Sargent: The Early Portraits by Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray.
"Henrietta ('Etta') Reubell (born c. 1849) was an American expatriate of French descent. Her brother was Jacques Reubell, art collector and benefactor, and her grandfathers were General Coster and Jean-François Reubell, one of the members of the directorate of the First French Republic. She lived in Paris where she held a salon for artists and writers in her rooms at 42, avenue Gabriel, and among her friends she numbered Whistler, Oscar Wilde, Edith Wharton and Henry James. James had met her in Paris in 1876, nicknamed her 'la grande Mademoiselle' and, during the course of their friendship, wrote hundreds of letters to her (Houghton Library, Harvard University); she was the original on whom Miss Barrace in The Ambassadors (1903) was based. According to Leon Edel, it was through her and Mrs Boit that James was introduced to Sargent in February 1884. In June 1884, Sargent and Miss Reubell were both guests at a dinner party given by Oscar Wilde and his wife, then on their honeymoon in Paris (see Constance Wilde to Otho Holland Lloyd, 3 June 1884; Rupert Hart-Davis, ed. The Letters of Oscar Wilde, London, 1962, pp. 156-8).
"Both on stylistic grounds and from the documentary evidence linking them together, it seems likely that this sketch dates from around the same period, although it might conceivably be earlier. Miss Reubell was a close friend of Mrs Boit - Henry James called them 'the shepherdesses of the studios' - and Sargent's acquaintance with her might go back to 1882, when he was painting the Boit children.
"The vivid description of William Rothenstein, who knew her in the 1890s, is recognizable in the portrait: 'she was striking looking, with her bright red hair crowning an expressive but unbeautiful face, her fingers and person loaded with turquoise stones. In face and figure she resembled Queen Elizabeth - if one can imagine an Elizabeth with an American accent and a high, shrill voice like a parrot's.' (William Rothenstein, Men and Memories: Recollections 1872-1938, London, 1978, p. 49).
"This watercolor was unrecorded until its appearance on the art market in 1988" (Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray, John Singer Sargent: The Early Portraits, Connecticut, 1998, p. 154).
"Henrietta ('Etta') Reubell (born c. 1849) was an American expatriate of French descent. Her brother was Jacques Reubell, art collector and benefactor, and her grandfathers were General Coster and Jean-François Reubell, one of the members of the directorate of the First French Republic. She lived in Paris where she held a salon for artists and writers in her rooms at 42, avenue Gabriel, and among her friends she numbered Whistler, Oscar Wilde, Edith Wharton and Henry James. James had met her in Paris in 1876, nicknamed her 'la grande Mademoiselle' and, during the course of their friendship, wrote hundreds of letters to her (Houghton Library, Harvard University); she was the original on whom Miss Barrace in The Ambassadors (1903) was based. According to Leon Edel, it was through her and Mrs Boit that James was introduced to Sargent in February 1884. In June 1884, Sargent and Miss Reubell were both guests at a dinner party given by Oscar Wilde and his wife, then on their honeymoon in Paris (see Constance Wilde to Otho Holland Lloyd, 3 June 1884; Rupert Hart-Davis, ed. The Letters of Oscar Wilde, London, 1962, pp. 156-8).
"Both on stylistic grounds and from the documentary evidence linking them together, it seems likely that this sketch dates from around the same period, although it might conceivably be earlier. Miss Reubell was a close friend of Mrs Boit - Henry James called them 'the shepherdesses of the studios' - and Sargent's acquaintance with her might go back to 1882, when he was painting the Boit children.
"The vivid description of William Rothenstein, who knew her in the 1890s, is recognizable in the portrait: 'she was striking looking, with her bright red hair crowning an expressive but unbeautiful face, her fingers and person loaded with turquoise stones. In face and figure she resembled Queen Elizabeth - if one can imagine an Elizabeth with an American accent and a high, shrill voice like a parrot's.' (William Rothenstein, Men and Memories: Recollections 1872-1938, London, 1978, p. 49).
"This watercolor was unrecorded until its appearance on the art market in 1988" (Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray, John Singer Sargent: The Early Portraits, Connecticut, 1998, p. 154).