Portrait of the Comtesse Greffulhe by Jacques Emile Blanche
PARISIAN COUNTESS LEADS CHRISTIE’S SPRING SALE OF 19th CENTURY EUROPEAN ART
May 2nd 2008 – Christie’s sale of 19th Century European Art on April 8 will showcase a full spectrum of genres and styles including the superb Portrait of the Comtesse de Greffuhle by Jacques Emile Blanche; exquisite paintings by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot and Jehan Georges Vibert; a stunning Italian marble carving; thirty carefully selected landscapes from the Barbizon School; and exciting Sporting Art paintings from the Los Angeles Turf Club, Inc.
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Portrait of the Comtesse Greffulhe by Jacques Emile Blanche (estimate: $400,000-600,000) is an exquisite portrait of a remarkable woman. Blanche was one of the foremost portrait painters of Belle Epoque Paris. Comtesse de Greffulhe was no exception as she was one of the most famous of women to dominate the cultural scene in Paris. Born Princesse Elisabeth de Charaman-Chimay, she married to the scion of a Belgian banking family. The Comtesse was famous for her salons where she entertained Paris society in her beautiful home in the company of artists Rodin, Whistler and Sargent, composers Debussy and Stravinsky, and writers Proust and Maeterlinck. She is said to be one of Proust’s models for the Duchess of Guermantes in A la recherché du temps perdu.
Another important highlight is a whimsical scene of La ceinture du grand-papa (Grandpa’s Sash) by Jehan Georges
Vibert (estimate: $150,000-250,000). Vibert was a master of painting anecdotal scenes such as this one that takes place in a Spanish courtyard on a theme of ‘how things turn in the universe.’
The Sleeping Child
Antonio Tantardini’s Two Children in a Crib – A Risogimento Allegory (estimate: $150,000-200,000) is a rare example of Tantardini’s exceptional carving skills. He is considered one of the best master carvers in 19th Century Italy.
Barbizon, Realist and French Landscape Paintings
Among the important examples of the Barbizon School is Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot’s Un port de mer en Bretagne (estimate: $300,000-500,000). Corot’s panoramic painting reflects a late afternoon on the northern coast of France. The setting is serene yet colorful because of Corot’s brilliant effect of bathing the small town in a clear silvery light.
Property from the Los Angeles Turf Club, Inc.
A group of sporting paintings from the Los Angeles Turf Club Inc. is led by John Frederick Herring’s The Water Place (estimate: $25,000-35,000) and The Farmyard (estimate: $80,000-120,000). Guiseppe Gabani’s The Derby Reale (estimate: $80,000-120,000) is a complex derby scene
with a beautifully detailed crowd. Gabani captured the exciting mood of the races by painting colored parasols for the women and enhanced the grandeur with the landscape receding towards the distant mountains.
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