JEAN-FRÉDÉRIC SCHALL | THE FORTUNATE MOTHER

Benjamin Sarnoff (1909-1996), Chicago;

Thence by descent to Phyllis (Sarnoff) Levin, Chicago, in 1996.

Although Jean-Frédéric Schall is renowned for his fêtes galantes depicting dancing ladies in elegant and ornate dresses, his later works demonstrate a more serious or semi-mythological narrative in a an interior scene typical of the neoclassical movement. This painting is exemplary of the latter, especially in its classical depiction of the figures, whose form is naturally accentuated with loose dresses. A pair by Schall, painted in a similar manner to this painting, sold at Brissonneau for €85,000 in 2013.(1)

We are grateful to Dr Alastair Laing for endorsing the attribution to Jean-Frédéric Schall on the basis of images.

1. Anonymous sale, Paris, Brissonneau, 29 March 2013, lot 31.