ERNEST ANGE DUEZ | Mélancolie

The artist's studio 
Thence by descent through his family 
Acquired from the above by the present owner in the 1980s 

Lined. The work presents well and the colors remain bright. The unfinished extreme edges are potentially visible in current framing. There is faint, stable craquelure across the picture surface. Under UV: a green fluorescing varnish obscures a lot of the picture surface, though the face appears to have been cleaned of this varnish. Over this varnish there is some minor strengthening in the figure's eyebrows, proper right temple, and in a small spot near the lower edge at lower right. There are older areas of retouching visible in the background at lower left.
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.

After years working in the silk trade, Ernest Ange Duez decided to pursue painting at the age of twenty-seven, training in Paris with Isidore-Alexandre-Augustin Pils, a Realist painter, and Carolus-Duran, known for his sumptuous society portraits. However, it was the influence of Édouard Manet that had a lasting impression on Duez. Like Manet, Duez was fascinated with modern life in the French capital and its transient qualities, such as ever-changing women’s fashion, an embodiment of modernity during the Belle Époque.