Lot 15
  • 15

Elizabeth Jane Gardner Bouguereau

Estimate
50,000 - 70,000 USD
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Description

  • Elizabeth Jane Gardner Bouguereau
  • La rĂ©ponse au petit-fils
  • signed Elizabeth Gardner. (lower left)
  • oil on canvas
  • 51 1/2 by 37 in.
  • 130.8 by 93.8 cm

Provenance

Private Collection, Minneapolis (by 1978)
Acquired by the present owner in 1988

Exhibited

Paris, Salon, 1890, no. 1007

Condition

Faint craquelure visible throughout composition. Visible restorations at upper left and paint in this area is unstable with a speck of loss. Lined. Under UV: Old varnish fluoresces unevenly. Inpaining to correspond with restorations at upper left and to address frame abrasion Spots and finely applied crosshatched inpainting to the background. A pronounced curve of inpainting to center left across the sinning wheel and grandmother's sleeve.
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

This work by Elizabeth Gardner entitled La réponse au petit-fils or Reply to the Grandson’s Letter, was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1890. Gardner had it photographed by Braun (no. 3484) and there are two contemporary copies of the photograph in the Gardner Family Archives.

By the time of the present work's execution, Gardner had  been exhibiting regularly at the Paris Salon (debuting in 1868). In 1879 she received an honorable mention for her work, À la fontaine, and in 1887 she was awarded a third-class medal for her painting La fille du fermier (sold in these rooms April 23, 2010, lot 28). This gave Gardner the distinction of being the only American painter to have received a Salon medal.  By 1890, she was at the height of her career and had little trouble selling her works to dealers and American visitors to Paris.

As suggested by the somber expression of the grandmother, who dictates her response to a literate young woman, the grandson may have been writing with news from the Front. The perils of war in the nineteenth century permeated all art forms, exposing the harsh reality of loss and separation for families.