Gustave Courbet

Jean-Paul Mazaroz (and sold, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 13-14, 1890, lot 19, as un jour d'equinoxe)
Private Collector
Thence by descent (and sold, Sotheby's, New York, October 22, 2009, lot 85, illustrated)
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Oil on canvas laid down on panel which itself has been backed by an additional board. Finely patterned vertical craquelure most noticeable in the sky; under UV: pindots of inpainting in the sky and through the waves in addition to an area to the rock in the lower right corner, and a small horizontal line below.
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.

The present work is most likely part of the series of seascapes that Courbet executed on the Normandy coast in 1869.  It entered the collection of Jean-Paul Mazaroz, who was among the most significant patrons of the artist in the late nineteenth century. With his partner Ribailleur, Mazaroz built one of the largest and and most profitable furniture companies in France in the late nineteenth century.  He met Courbet for the first time in 1860 at the l'Exposition universelle in Besançon and soon after the artist would begin to buy furniture from Mazaroz, who in turn regularly purchased a large number of landscape, still-lifes, and figure paintings from Courbet. The present work was sold with much of Mazaroz’s collection at Hôtel Drouot in 1890; fittingly for a craftsman many paintings were equally admired for their impressive, carved frames.  In addition to the present work, which Mazaroz apparently titled Un Jour d’equinoxe, many of his Courbets have been located today including his portrait and four other paintings held by the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lons-le-Saunier (Mazaroz’s birthplace) and notable examples in the Art Institute of Chicago and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.