Lot 50
  • 50

WILLIAM MCGREGOR PAXTON | Portrait of Louise Converse (Mrs. Junius S. Morgan III)

Estimate
50,000 - 70,000 USD
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Description

  • William McGregor Paxton
  • Portrait of Louise Converse (Mrs. Junius S. Morgan III)
  • signed PAXTON and dated 1915 (lower right)
  • oil on canvas
  • 52 3/4 by 42 3/4 inches
  • (134 by 108.6 cm)

Provenance

Louise Converse Morgan, New York (the sitter)
John Pierpont Morgan II, New York (her son, by descent)
Estate of the above (sold: Sotheby's, New York, September 16, 2005, lot 27)
Acquired by the present owner at the above sale

Exhibited

Boston, Massachusetts, The Guild of Boston Artists, Exhibition of Paintings by William M. Paxton, January-February 1916, no. 7
Boston, Massachusetts, Museum of Fine Arts, William McGregor Paxton, N.A., Memorial Exhibition of Paintings, November-December 1941, no. 41
Indianapolis, Indiana, Indianapolis Museum of Art; El Paso, Texas, El Paso Museum of Art; Omaha, Nebraska, Joslyn Art Museum; Springfield, Massachusetts, Museum of Fine Arts, William McGregor Paxton, August 1978-May 1979, no. 38, p. 134, illustrated pl. 38
Roslyn Harbor, New York, Nassau County Museum of Art, The Subject Is Women: Impressionism & Post Impressionism, January-February 2010, pp. 8, 27, illustrated p. 9

Literature

Boston Transcript, January 25, 1916, n.p.
Boston Daily Globe, November 19, 1941, n.p.
Boston Sunday Post, November 23, 1941, n.p.

Condition

The canvas is lined, the tacking edges are covered with tape and there is frame abrasion along the extreme edges. Under UV: the work retains an uneven varnish and there is inpainting to address frame abrasion along the extreme edges and a few scattered pindots in the background primarily in the upper right and lower left. There are also a few pindots in her dress at the lower left edge, in her chest, and at her elbow.
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

Louise Converse (1895-1974) was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Shepherd Converse of Westwood, Massachusetts. Her father, Frederick Converse, was a noted romantic composer whose opera, The Pipe of Desire (1906), became the first by an American composer to be staged at the Metropolitan Opera when it was performed in 1911. He studied music under John Knowles Paine at Harvard College and later joined the faculty as an assistant professor of music. On June 15, 1915, Louise Converse married Junius Spencer Morgan III, the grandson of John Pierpont Morgan, Sr. and the son of John Pierpont Morgan, Jr., at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Boston, Massachusetts. Junius Morgan III served in World War I as a member of the Naval Coast Defense Reserve and again during World War II as a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserve. He joined the family firm J.P. Morgan & Co. in 1915 and worked as a partner until 1940. Morgan was a leading yachtsman and served as the commodore of the New York Yacht Club where he was active in arranging the America's Cup challenges. He was also the president and a trustee of The Morgan Library, a trustee of the American Museum of Natural History, and a member of the Army Advisory Committee for Greater New York. William McGregor Paxton painted a portrait of the sitter's father in 1899 and a full family portrait in 1903. The present work was completed just prior to the sitter's wedding in 1915.