National Gallery of Art :: The Collection :: Allegory of Music
  • Inscription
  • Provenance
  • Exhibition History
  • Bibliography

Overview

No overview.

Inscription

lower right in black paint, FB in monogram: FBoucher 1764

Marks and Labels

null

Provenance

Possibly Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria [1745-1777]. Traditionally said to have been brought into France by the early 19th century by Général de Saint-Maurice. M. Maillet du Boullay, Paris; (his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 22 January 1870, no. 1); M. Féral. Gustave Rothan, Paris, by 1874;[1] (his sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 29-31 May 1890, no. 122). Adèle, 4th duchesse de Dino [née Adèle Livingston Sampson, 1842-1912; married first to Frederick W. Stevens], Paris, by 1907; probably by inheritance to her daughter, Countess Mabel Stevens Orlowski [married 1891 to Count Mieczyslaw Orlowski (1865-1929)];[2] (Wildenstein & Co., Inc., Paris, New York, and London); sold 1942 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York; gift 1946 to NGA. [1] The early provenance of this painting and NGA 1946.7.1 is based on tradition rather than documentary evidence, and derives from Paul Mantz, "La Galerie de M. Rothan," Gazette des Beaux-Arts (1873): 442, who believed the pair had been painted for the Elector of Bavaria, Maximilian III Joseph. They were then supposedly returned to France in the early nineteenth century by General de Saint-Maurice, who, according to André Michel, François Boucher, Paris, n.d.[1906]: 51, kept them for some sixty years before selling them to Maillet du Boullay. As Alastair Laing has pointed out, however, Saint-Maurice never served in Bavaria and died in 1796 (letter of 20 April 1997 to Richard Rand). Nor do any references to the paintings appear in the state archives of Bavaria; see Colin Eisler, Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian, Oxford, 1977: 318, who offered the possibility that they were commissioned by Joseph von Dufresne, a courtier of the Elector who had a large collection of French pictures (see also correspondence in NGA curatorial files). Mantz writes that Rothan acquired the pair of paintings in 1870, probably at Maillet du Boullay's sale; Rothan certainly owned them by 1874, when he lent them to an exhibition in Paris. [2] The Wildenstein prospectus for the pair of paintings listed the last three owners as Mme. Livingston-Sampson, Duchesse de Dino, and Comte Orllowski [sic]. Research for the Gallery's systematic catalogue of 15th-18th century French paintings determined that the first two names were the same person, and that the Count was her son-in-law. See NGA curatorial files for the prospectus and documentation of the family history.

[1] The early provenance of this painting and NGA 1946.7.2 is based on tradition rather than documentary evidence, and derives from Paul Mantz, "La Galerie de M. Rothan," Gazette des Beaux-Arts (1873): 442, who believed the pair had been painted for the Elector of Bavaria, Maximilian III Joseph. They were then supposedly returned to France in the early nineteenth century by General de Saint-Maurice, who, according to André Michel, François Boucher, Paris, n.d.[1906]: 51, kept them for some sixty years before selling them to Maillet du Boullay. As Alastair Laing has pointed out, however, Saint-Maurice never served in Bavaria and died in 1796 (letter of 20 April 1997 to Richard Rand). Nor do any references to the paintings appear in the state archives of Bavaria; see Eisler 1977, 318, who offered the possibility that they were commissioned by Joseph von Dufresne, a courtier of the Elector who had a large collection of French pictures (see also correspondence in NGA curatorial files). Mantz writes that Rothan acquired the pair of paintings in 1870, probably at Maillet du Boullay's sale; Rothan certainly owned them by 1874, when he lent them to an exhibition in Paris.

[2] The Wildenstein prospectus for the pair of paintings listed the last three owners as Mme. Livingston-Sampson, Duchesse de Dino, and Comte Orllowski [sic]. Research for the Gallery's systematic catalogue of 15th-18th century French paintings determined that the first two names were the same person, and that the Count was her son-in-law. See NGA curatorial files for documentation of the family history.

Exhibition History

1874
Peinture exposés au profit de la colonisation de l'Algérie pars les Alsaciens-Lorrains, Palais de la Présidence du Corps législatif, Paris, 1974, no. 31.
1878
Tableaux anciens et modernes exposés au profit du Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Pavillon de Flore, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, 1878, no. 15.
1940
The Great Tradition of French Painting, Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans, 1940, no. 8.
1946
Recent Additions to the Kress Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1946, no. 767.
1973
François Boucher in North American Collections: One Hundred Drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Art Institute of Chicago, 1973-1974, unnumbered brochure for Washington venue (shown only in Washington).

Bibliography

1873
Mantz, Paul. "La Galerie de M. Rothan." Gazette des Beaux-Arts. 2cd ser., vol 7 (1873): 442
1880
Goncourt, Edmond de, and Jules de Goncourt. L'art du dix-huitième siècle. 2 vols. Paris, 1880: I:195.
1880
Mantz, Paul. François Boucher, Lemoyne et Natoire. Paris, 1880: 153
1906
Michel, André. François Boucher. Paris, 1906: no. 937.
1907
Nolhac, Pierre de. François Boucher: premier peintre du roi. Paris, 1907: 147, repro. opposite 146
1908
Macfall, Haldane. Boucher, the man, his times, his art, and his significance. London, 1908: 152, 154
1925
Nolhac, Pierre de. Boucher, premier peintre du roi. Paris, 1925: 189, repro. opposite 92
1944
"Kress Makes Important Donation of French Painting to the Nation." Art Digest. vol. 18, no. 19 (1 August 1944): 5
1944
"The Almanac: French Paintings Given to the National Gallery." The Magazine Antiques 46, no. 5 (November 1944): 288
1945
Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1945 (reprinted 1947, 1949): 163, repro.
1948
Wildenstein and Company. French XVIII Century Paintings. New York, 1948: 4
1952
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Great Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1952: 126, color repro.
1956
Einstein, Lewis. "Looking at French Eighteenth Century Pictures in Washington." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 6th ser., 67, no. 1048-1049 (May-June 1956): 226.
1957
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): 20, pl. 49
1959
Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 365, repro.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 18
1968
European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1968: 11, repro.
1969
Mirimonde, Albert P. de. "Les Allégories de la Musique II: Le Retour de Mercure et les Allégories des Beaux-Arts." Gazette des Beaux-Arts. 6th ser., vol. 73 (May-June 1969): 357, repro. 360
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 38, repro.
1975
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 336, no. 451, repro.
1976
Ananoff, Alexandre, with Daniel Wildenstein. François Boucher. 2 vols. Lausanne and Paris, 1976: 2:232, no. 580, repro.
1977
Eisler, Colin. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian. Oxford, 1977: 316-318, fig. 282, as The Personification of Music.
1980
Ananoff, Alexandre, with Daniel Wildenstein. L'opera completa di Boucher. Milan, 1980: no. 613, repro.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 334, no. 449, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 58, repro.
2005
The Arts of France from François Ier to Napoléon Ier. A Centennial Celebration of Wildenstein's Presence in New York. Exh. cat. Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York, 2005: 78 (not in the exhibition).
2009
Conisbee, Philip, et al. French Paintings of the Fifteenth through the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2009: no. 5, 25-32, color repro.

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