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- Titles L'Heureux Ménage (The Happy Household) (Descriptive)
- Artist Marguerite Gérard, French, 1761 - 1837
- Medium oil on panel
- Dimensions sight: 15 3/4 × 12 1/2 in. (40 × 31.8 cm) frame: 22 × 17 5/8 × 2 3/4 in. (55.9 × 44.8 × 7 cm)
- Credit Line Collection of the Art Fund, Inc. at the Birmingham Museum of Art; Gift of Penelope Hunter-Stiebel and Gerald G. Stiebel in Memory of Irene and Eric Stiebel, AFI.90.2021
- Work Type painting
- Classification Paintings
- On View
- Signature center right, on the harpsicord: Mte Gerard
- Inscription on verso of the panel: center right, on a paper label: No. 59852 (the letter M and the number 71 have been added in pencil. The label has preprinted in black: "No." and "PICTURE" as opposed to "FRAME," see below. Center right, in black marker: NYT 104. bottom right on a round paper label: PLASTIC / 761 / VARNISH. on frame: center top, on a paper label: a number printed in red ink. (The only legible number is 8. This should, however, be the number 59852 (see above). The label has preprinted in black: "No." and "FRAME." Various letters and numbers at top and left (illegible).
- Provenance Marguerite Gérard [see note 1]; Jean-Frédéric Perregaux (1744-1808) [see note 2]. By descent to his daughter, Anne Marie-Hortense Perregaux (La Maréchale Marmont, Duchesse de Raguse, 1779-1855) [see note 3]; her sale at Paris, December 14-15, 1857, lot 21 [see note 4]. Tableaux anciens, aquarelles, et terres cuites de feu M. Richard, dont la vente après décès, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, March 18, 1872, lot 25 [see note 5]. Anonymous sale Tableaux anciens, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, March 17, 1877, lot 19 [see note 6]. M. Gouttenoire de Tory (1876-1964), Paris, since at least 1904 and until at least 1910 [see note 7]. Joseph Robinson Bowles, Portland, Oregon (1869-1945) [see note 8]. Wildenstein & Co, New York [see note 9]; purchased by Hazkate Company/Jules Sermon Bache (1861-1944) [see note 10]; offered (sold?) at the auction Valuable Paintings, … (estate of the late Jules S. Bache), Kende Galleries, New York, April 23, 1945, lot 9 [see note 11]. Kathryn Bache Miller, New York [see note 12]; sold at Christie's New York, June 5, 1980, lot 102 [see note 13]. Christie's New York, January 18, 1983, lot 140. with dealer Patrick Weiller, Paris [see note 14]. Eric and Irene Stiebel, New York, by 1986 [see note 15]; by descent to Gerald G. Stiebel, Santa Fe, gift to the Art Fund, Inc. at the Birmingham Museum of Art, 2021.
1. The catalog of the 1857 sale (see below) explains in the introduction: The paintings “...ont été choisis avec un goût parfait, et tous ceux de l’école française ont été achetés directement par M. Perregaux aux artistes eux-mêmes..."
2. Pérregaux’s post-mortem inventory (23 February 1808, Arch. nat., Min. cent., X, 882) lists a painting by Gérard with the generic title Scène de Famille. This painting, however, is listed as on canvas, which is most likely a mistake in the inventory. Published by Blumenfeld (2019, p. 230, no. 150): “un tableau sur toile par Mademoiselle Gérard représentant un appartement, òu une jeune femme regarde son mari qui tient un enfant”
3. According to Blumenfeld (2019, p. 230, no. 150) the painting is listed in her post-mortem inventory, 8 June 1857 (Arch. nat., Min. cent., X, 1255).
4. The copy of the auction catalog at the RKD is annotated with the name and address “Dubois de la R. de l’université.” Dubois has not been identified. The painting may have subsequently been sold at Trés-intéressante collection de tableaux des écoles italienne, française & des pays-bas, Hôtel des ventes mobilières, Paris, Dec. 26, 1853, lot 35. The title of the painting is listed as “L’heureux ménage” and it is described as follows: “Un père tient son enfant dans ses bras, la mère les regarde tendrement, et derrière elle une jeune femme apporte deux colombes.”
5. In the auction catalog described as “L’Heureux Ménage. Signé sur le clavecin, Mlle Gérard” with the dimensions of 41 x 33 cm. It remains unclear who the seller M. Richard is.
6. The detailed description in the auction catalog matches the painting, it is mentioned as signed, and the dimensions are given as 40 x 31 cm.
7. Gouttenoire de Toury is mentioned as the lender in the 1904 and 1910 exhibition catalogues.
8. This information was provided by Wildenstein (email from Joseph Baillio dated July 1, 2021, see object file). The only documentation on the painting at Wildenstein in NYC is an old black and white photograph and a pre-WWII memorandum on which it is indicated that the painting came from “Gouttenoire de Toury” and “J. Bowles” of Portland, Oregon.
9. The 1945 sales catalog mentions “Hazkate” (see below) in the entry for the painting as well as it coming from Wildenstein which suggests that Bache bought it from Wildenstein.
10. Hazkate was incorporated in 1928 to “deal in paintings, pictures, statuary, and works of art.” (Morning News, Wilmington, DE, Jan 14, 1928). It held works for Jules Sermon Bache and family and was dissolved after Bache’s death. In 1937, Bache gave his art collection and manison to the State of New York to be used as a museum. This did not come to pass. Instead, 77 paintings were given to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Bache’s Gérard was not included, and thus was offered at auction in 1945. Subsequently the state assigned the 77 paintings to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and sold the mansion in 1944 (cf. The Burlington Magazine, vol. 84, no. 492, March 1944, p. 55.)
11. The name Hazkate is given at the end of the auction catalog description and Gouttenoire de Toury and Wildenstein are mentioned as previous owners.
12. Kathryn Bache Miller is Jules Bache’s daughter. It remains unclear if the painting was unsold at the 1945 auction and remained in the family or whether she bought it at said auction, perhaps through a third party, or acquired it at some point later.
13. The seller is not identified in the auction catalog but the estate of Kathryn Bache Miller is listed as a consignor. In addition, FARL has an image of the painting which states that it was in Mrs. Miller’s estate. The 1987 Stiebel catalog also mentions the painting coming from Mrs. Bache.
14. According to the Rosenberg & Stiebel factsheet for the painting, see object file.
15. Rosenberg & Stiebel are mentioned as lenders in the 1986 exhibition “Eva und die Zukunft.”