Lot 19
  • 19

Gustave Moreau

Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Gustave Moreau
  • Première Danseuse. Mademoiselle Subra. Ballet de Sapho
  • signed Gustave Moreau (lower right); inscribed Melle Subra 1ère Danseuse / ballet de Sapho (lower left), -ors, violets et verts (lower right), and ailes blanches ou / vertes ou/ gris tourterelle / (on supprimera les ailes) (center right)
  • pencil on paper
  • 8 7/8 by 6 1/2 in.
  • 22.5 by 16.5 cm

Provenance

Sale: Paris, Hôtel Drouot, May 18, 1910
Private Collection, France (and sold, Sotheby's, London, November 12, 2008, lot 255, illustrated)
Acquired at the above sale

Literature

Pierre-Louis Mathieu, Gustave Moreau: sa vie, son oeuvre, Paris, 1976, p. 344, no. 316
Pierre-Louis Mathieu, Gustave Moreau. Monographie et nouveau catalogue de l'oeuvre achevé, Paris, 1998, p. 387, no. 351, illustrated

Condition

Paper adhered at four corners to a thin sheet of support, which is attached at upper and lower edges to a card that is hinged at the upper edge to an old mat. The sheet is slightly lightstruck and has a couple spots of faint foxing.
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

One of the most inventive painters of his generation, Gustave Moreau’s oeuvre encompasses a wide variety of mediums and pictorial traditions. Executed in 1883, the present drawing relates to a group of exotic costume designs for the famed ballerina, Mademoisselle Subra, for her performance as premiere danseuse in the 1884 revival of Charles Gounod’s opera Sapho.