Drouais was the first in a prominent, multigenerational family of artists who specialized in portraits of the French nobility, foreign aristocrats, writers, and other artists. This painting perfectly characterizes both his work and the playful, lighthearted temperament of the Rococo period. The boys are Armand Louis II (b. 1756) and Armand Louis Jean (b. 1757), sons of Armand Louis I de Béthune. Members of the aristocracy enjoyed dressing their children up in costumes, which Drouais captured in a number of portraits. Here the artist luxuriates in the details of the boys’ elaborate attire: sumptuous velvet suits with slashed sleeves, silk ribbons, and lace collars and cuffs. The pug, being taught by the children to play the guitar, adds to the charm of this signed and dated painting.
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- Titles Les Portraits de MM. de Béthune jouant avec un chien (Portraits of Marquis Béthune’s Children Playing with a Dog) (Proper)
- Artist François-Hubert Drouais, French, 1727 - 1775
- Medium oil on canvas
- Dimensions 38 1/4 x 51 1/4 in. (97.2 x 130.2 cm) frame: 49 5/8 × 62 3/8 × 4 1/8 in. (126 × 158.4 × 10.5 cm)
- Credit Line Eugenia Woodward Hitt Collection, 1991.254
- Work Type painting
- Classification Paintings
- On View
- Signature Right side, middle (on flower box): Drouais le fils / 1761
- Inscription Verso, top stretcher, upper left, black marker: 19713 Verso, right stretcher, upper left, white chalk: PCD Verso, right stretcher, bottom right, white chalk: B 1-24 Verso, vertical strainer, top center, pen on sticker: F. H. / DROUAIS / Children of the / Comte de Bethune / (Salon [ripped] 1761] Verso, vertical strainer, top center, pen on sticker: C. 5337 Verso, horizontal strainer, center left, pen on printed label: This Label to be affixed to the back of the frame (not the canvas) of the Picture / ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS / WINTER EXHIBITION, 1954-55 Eighteen Century / Artist: Drouais / Ser. No. 396 / Title: 2 sons of Godefroy Charles Henry / de la Tour d'Auvergne / Name and Address of Owner { / Mauritshuis / S-Jrassenhage / Holland / (Please correct any particulars not properly given) Verso, horizontal stretcher, center right, pencil on printed label: STICHTING NEDERLAND CH KUNSTBEZIT [ripped] / Kunstenaar: OUIAS / Vorstellung: / Materiaal: afmetingen: / Vroegere eigenaar: / Categ: / Inv. No. 487 Verso, horizontal stretcher, right, pen on label with blue boarder: DROUAIS 396 / EIGENDOM / MAURITSHUIS / DEN HAAG
- Provenance Possibly Mary Lyman Burns (about 1844-1919) [see note 1]; her son, Walter Spencer Morgan Burns (1872-1929), London and North Mymms Park, Hertfordshire, before January 1925; auctioned at Sale of Pictures by Old Masters, Christie’s, London, May 6, 1927, lot 39; purchased by dealer S.R. Founès, Paris [see note 2]. F. Mannheimer (1890-1939), Amsterdam, by 1936 [see note 4]; transferred in bankruptcy to Mendelsohn Bank, Amsterdam [see note 5]; forced sale of entire collection through Dienststelle Mühlmann to Hitler for Linz, 1941 [see note 6]; restituted to the Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit (Dutch Art Heritage Foundation) by Munich Central Collecting Point, March 7, 1945, no. 2 [see note 7]; deaccessioned by Dutch State, 1956; purchased by Rosenberg & Stiebel, New York 1956 [see note 9]; Wildenstein & Co., New York; purchased by Mrs. William F. Hitt (1905-1990), New York, 1963; by bequest to Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, 1991
1. According to Walter Spencer Morgan Burns’s New York Times obituary, he inherited a large part of his mother’s valuable art collection. He was also a collector in his own right and could have purchased 1991.254 himself. “Tribute to Walter Burns: J. P. Morgan’s Cousin, Who Died Tuesday, Praised as Art Collector.” New York Times. December 28, 1929, p. 9.
2. Burns originally sought to sell the painting to the dealer Duveen Brothers in 1925. Between January 28, 1925 and January 30, 1925, the Paris office of the Duveen Brothers and the New York office communicated about 1991.254 and agreed not to purchase it. On February 17, 1927, the London office wrote to the New York office about Burns contacting Duveen again to sell 1991.254. Getty Research Institute, Duveen Brothers Records, Box 237, reel 92, folder 20.
On May 9, 1927, the London Duveen Brothers wrote to the London office: “Burns Drouais certainly purchased outright by Founes.” Getty Research Institute, Duveen Brothers Records, Box 237, reel 92, folder 20. “The Sale Room, Old French Pictures,” Times (London), May 7, 1927, writes that M. Founès of Paris purchased the work. One copy of the 1927 sale catalogue at the Getty Research Institute identifies the buyer as “Grannay.” It is possible that Founès was acting as agent for Grannay, who has not been identified.
3. 1991.254 was included in the first known inventory of Mannheimer’s collection, begun in November 1935 and finished in 1936. National Archive, M1946, Records Concerning the Central Collecting Points (“Ardelia Hall Collection”): Munich Central Collecting Point, 1945–1951: Restitution Research Records, 1945-1950 [A1, Entry 519], Roll 145, Otto v. Falke, Katalog der Sammlung F.M. Nov. 1935-März 1936. Vol. 1, page 386, G.11. Dimensions incorrect, listed as 127 cm x 84 cm.
4. Dr. Fritz Mannheimer was a partner in the Amsterdam branch of the Mendelssohn & Co. Bank. He was granted unlimited credit by the bank, which he used to purchase art, despite his growing debts. In a 1934 agreement between Mannheimer and Mendelssohn & Co., the Amsterdam branch of the bank became owner of the collection through a subsidiary called Artistic and General Securities Company Limited, London (Mendelssohn & Co. was the sole shareholder of the Artistic and General Securities Company). The latter then loaned the collection to Mannheimer. Mannheimer agreed to stop collecting, but he continued to purchase art after 1934. On August 28, 1939, shortly after Mannheimer’s death, Mendelssohn & Co. filed bankruptcy. Legal expert E. J. Kosthals Altes (1898-1981) was appointed as the trustee administrator of the estate and tasked with satisfying Mannheimer’s creditors. See Venema, Adriaan. Kunsthandel in Nederland, 1940-1945. Amsterdam: Arbeiderspers, 1986, p. 173-185.
5. The Mannheimer collection was acquired in its entirety for Linz through the Dienststelle Mühlmann. 1991.254 is not included in the inventory of the Mannheimer collection stored at Vichy, France and sold via forced sale in 1944, so it is assumed that it was included in the forced sale of the bulk of the collection remaining in Holland in 1941. According to a letter from Martin Bormann dated February 4, 1941, Hans Posse was to purchase the collection for Hitler. Reichskommissar Arthur Seyss-Inquart was to block the sale to any other buyer. National Archive, M1946, Records Concerning the Central Collecting Points (“Ardelia Hall Collection”): Munich Central Collecting Point, 1945–1951: Restitution Research Records, 1945-1950 [A1, Entry 519], Roll 139, Linz Museum: Consolidated Interrogation Report No. 4, attachment 35; Roll 139, O.S.S. Art Looting Investigation Unit, Linz Museum: Consolidated Interrogation Report No. 4, page 36-38 (The Mannheimer Affair), attachments 35, 35A, and 35B. For details on payments and the sale of the Mannheimer collection, see National Archive M1944, Records of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas (The Roberts Commission), 1943-1946: Roll 8, Target 16: Interrogations-Kajetan Muehlmann and the Dienstelle Muehlmann. Included in the Mühlmann inventory: Munich Central Collecting Point, 1945–1951: Restitution Research Records, 1945-1950 [A1, Entry 519], Roll 117, Art Objects Confiscated from The Netherlands, Volume 1: Der Reichskommissar für die Besetzten Niederländischen Gebiete, Dienstelle Dr. Mühlmann, page 8, Tafel 11. Also, on the back of the Munich Central Collecting Point Card no. 1583: “bought or confiscated by Muehlmann for Hitler.” 1991.254 was stored in a Altaussee salt mine, Austria, inventory 1381.
8. CCP Munich Property Card no. 1582. The contract for return to the Dutch Government from the Munich Central Collecting Point was signed March 7, 1945. National Archive, M1946, Records Concerning the Central Collecting Points (“Ardelia Hall Collection”): Munich Central Collecting Point, 1945–1951: Cultural Object Movement and Control Records, 1945–1949 [A1, Entry 515], Roll 23: Custody Receipts on Restitution to Netherlands: Record 640. Listed as “2 boys seated.”
7. Written communications from Quentin Buvelot, Senior Curator, Mauritshuis, May 27, 2016, and Gerald Stiebel, June 1, 2016, to Yuriko Jackall.