MARGUERITE GÉRARD | The Reading of the Gazette

Collection of Gabriel Auguste Godefroy, contrôleur général de la Marine, Paris; 
His sale after death, Paris, Me Bohain, 14 December 1813, lot 53 (sold 354 francs to Bertinval); 
Sale D. [rouillet] de B. [ertinval], baron de Brissole] Paris, Me Lacoste, 24 March 1818, lot 84, (sold 452 ou 460 francs to Tardieu ?); 
Very possibly sale after death « du cabinet de M. le Général Lesuire, baron de Bizy, ancien Maréchal-de-Camp », Paris, Me Bonnefons, 12 March 1833, lot 1 (without measurements); 
Very possibly Thomas Henry Sale, Paris, Mes Moreau et Lacoste, 23 May 1836, lot 108 « La Lecture au jardin » (sold 380 francs to Smith); 
Anonymous sale, Paris, Palais Galliera, 7 April 1976, lot 21; 
Private collection, Paris.

Paris, Galerie Charpentier, Les Epoques, 1933, no. 43.

J. Doin, « Marguerite Gérard (1761-1837) », Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 1912 (II), p. 442;
S. Wells-Robertson, Marguerite Ge'rard, Ph. D, New York University, 1978, p. 862, n°81 (repr.); 
C. Blumenfeld, « Marguerite Gérard », Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon, Munich, 2006, vol. 52, p. 15;
C. Blumenfeld, Marguerite Gérard 1761-1837, Paris, 2018, p. 166, p. 169 (repr. coul.) et p. 231, n° 214 P.

A l'œil nu : Le tableau se présente dans un état de conservation satisfaisant. Il a fait l'objet d'un rentoilage un peu fort. Le châssis est ancien et rectangulaire. Certaines craquelures ont été rebouchées : en bas à gauche, dans la robe bleue, dans la partie inférieure de la table et dans la nappe. Il semble y avoir un point de pression situé en haut à gauche du bébé. A la lampe U.V. : Le tableau apparaît sous un vernis vert ancien. Dans les cheveux de la liseuse de droite, certaines reprises des contours sont visibles, ainsi que certaines autour de sa tête. On remarque des restaurations dans les fleurs en bas à gauche ainsi que dans une grande partie des craquelures de la partie basse du tableau. On remarque de nombreuses reprises dans le groupe de personnages à droite correspondant à des usures de la matière picturale. Vendu avec un cadre doré et sculpté (bon état de conservation).
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This second genre scene (see lot 48, p. 56 for the other) takes place outdoors, in a luxuriant garden in which numerous varieties of roses and other flowers can be admired. On a bench, two young girls are absorbed in reading a newspaper, identified in the 1836 sale catalogue as the Journal de l'Empire (the name of the Journal des débats between July 1805 and April 1814). At right, two other women seated at a table are looking after a child who appears to be drinking milk; they are protected from the sun by hats, one black and the other blue.

Successively titled La Lecture jardin, La Lecture de la gazette and finally La Feuille publique, this painting returns to a theme explored several times by Marguerite Gérard, inspired by Fragonard who often liked to paint or draw people absorbed in reading or leafing through wrinkled albums.

Gérard painted numerous genre scenes in which she placed daily domestic life on stage. Placing greater emphasis on the artistic talents of her models than on their social rank, the artist also enjoyed depicting the intimacy of families. Our painting is a beautiful example: Marguerite Gérard depicts the private life of a bourgeois family in the early 19^th century in a setting marked by simplicity.

Sally Wells-Robertson dates it to around 1811, based on the style of the clothing [1]. More cautiously, Carole Blumenfeld dates it to the period 1810-1813. Both the dress and the subject suggest a similar date of creation for this work and La lecture, sold at Sotheby's New York in 2005 [2].

Beyond their undeniable aesthetic qualities, Marguerite Gérard's paintings bear poignant documentary witness to the middle-class life of the period and recall, through subtle details, the masters of the Dutch Golden Age. Her works are also marked by a Davidian metallic touch. Long associated with Fragonard, Marguerite Gérard is now recognised as a remarkable portraitist and a wholly individual genre painter.

[1] S. Wells-Robertson, Marguerite Gérard, Ph. D, New York University, 1978, p. 862, n° 81. [2] Marguerite Gérard, La Lecture, oil on canvas, 62 x 51 cm, New York, sale Sotheby's, 26 May 2005, lot 71.


The painting will appear in the catalogue raisonné of the artist by Carole Blumenfeld to be published in the coming months (see Literature).