Lot 65
  • 65

Piat-Joseph Sauvage

Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 USD
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Description

  • Piat-Joseph Sauvage
  • Venus and Cupid
  • oil on canvas, en grisaille
  • 49 7/8 x 29 1/4 inches

Provenance

Georges Hoentschel, Paris;
From whom acquired by J. Pierpont Morgan in 1906;
By whom given to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1907 (Inv. no. 07.225.265).

Literature

C. Sterling, The Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Catalogue of French Paintings, vol. I, Cambridge 1955, pp. 180-81, reproduced p. 180;
K. Baetjer, European Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art by artists born in or before 1865: a summary catalogue, New York 1980, vol. I, p. 168, reproduced vol. III, p. 524;
K. Baetjer, European Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art by artists born in or before 1865: a summary catalogueNew York 1995, p. 384, reproduced p. 385;
N. Hoentschel et al., Georges Hoentschel, Saint-Rémy-en-l'Eau 1999, reproduced pp. 197, 202, 205.

Condition

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work is in good condition. The canvas is lined with a non-wax adhesive. The paint layer has shrunk slightly over time, and associated cracking can be seen in the foot on the left of the woman. The paint layer is slightly abraded in the softened darkest shadows. The work is slightly dirty. There do not appear to be any retouches except to a couple of cracks in the figures. The work can certainly be hung in its current state, or it would respond well to careful cleaning.
"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."

Catalogue Note

The son of a glass cutter, Piat-Joseph Sauvage had his initial training in Antwerp was under Martin Joseph Geeraerts (1707-1791), who specialized in paintings en grisaille. Sauvage then went to Paris and made a name for himself imitating marble bas-reliefs in trompe l'oeil paintings.  Examples of his grisailles can be found at the King's and Queen's Apartment at the Château of Compiègne, the Grand Salon of the Mesdames de France at the Château of Bellevue, the Petit Trianon in the little rotunda drawing-room of the small farm, and the Château of Chantilly's theater. 

The present painting depicts the goddess of love with Cupid upon her lap, his bow and arrows lying on the ground beneath them.  Sauvage has cleverly painted the eyes of Venus and Cupid without pupil, as they would have been depicted in a classical marble relief.