Lot Essay
Study for L'Almée
stamped with Vente stamp lower right--pencil on paper
11 x 7in. (28 x 17.9cm.) two (2)
Provenance
M. Knoedler & Co., New York
The Antiquarian, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Richard Townsend, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Charles Bargue was both a contemporary of and a collaborator with Jean Léon Gérôme, though he is often incorrectly described as being the latter's student. Indeed, the two artists prepared an illustrated drawing course for artists, Cours de Dessin, which is still used at the Florence Academy of Art. Bargue made his living as a printmaker, his oils being extremely rare and during the last decade of his life he rarely produced more than two pictures a year. His works were much sought after during his lifetime because of their consistently high quality.
Bargue shared Gérôme's fascination with Orientalist subjects and during the 1870's the two artists shared a studio. He created these themes in their Paris studio, based on costumes and props which Gérôme had acquired on his travels. The subject of L'Almée (or Almeh) is a Middle-Eastern dance entertainer and the model may have been Turkish. The meticulousness of his draftsmanship is evident in the preparatory drawing which accompanies the painting. This drawing is similar in pose to a watercolor recorded in the Victor Spark archives (S.3107) and to a third drawing in the drawings collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (20.166.2). All three drawings remained with Bargue until his death and were sold in the artist's estate sale in 1883.
Gerald M. Ackerman comments, "Bargue's execution was even finer than Gérôme's, and his sense of color more sumptuous" (G. M. Ackerman, The Life and Works of Jean-Léon Gérôme, Paris, p. 102). In a letter dated February 22, 1987 which discusses L'Almée, he writes: "The picture is a work of virtuosity such as only Bargue could paint. It has the fullness of forms typical of this style...and a richness of accurately seen and placed detail that we can find outside of 17th century Holland only in a Bargue or a Meissonier. Bargue was without a doubt one of the master technicians of his time.
It is not just Bargue's skill in painting fine details that makes him so wonderful, it is his control of the values of his hues. His details are always painted in subtle agreement with the light or shadow that discloses or surrounds them. Bargue's mastery of light and dark values enables him to place every object in a room exactly in space, so that it is precisely seen in its relationship to the light source and to every other article in the room...He was especially good at glistening marquetry and shadowy woodcarving, dimly lit brass, golden jewelry, nacreous surfaces, and voluptuous bodies under tight silken cloth. There are areas of pure marvel...such as the change of values along the mother-of-pearl insets on the Almeh's tambourine and on her jewelry. Note especially the little tassel that hangs from her left upper arm. It is as remarkably painted as the lamp that hangs over her head and glitters in the light without a single false value."
In his book The Treasures of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, published in 1899, A. Hoeber discusses two works by Bargue in the museum's collection, in terms that are equally appropriate for L'Almée: "...so that where Gérôme leaves one admiring, but cold, (Bargue) arouses a feeling of enthusiasm. This man...by the force of his dexterity with the brush...raised the art to the highest point of excellence" (p. 80-81).
Bargue's L'Almée is typical of the quality of William H. Vanderbilt's collection. Vanderbilt was one of the most prominent art collectors of his time, paying top prices for his purchases. Meissonier's Les Renseignements was purchased at approximately the same time as L'Almée for $50,000 through his agent Samuel P. Avery, establishing a record price for a work by a living artist. Earl Shinn, himself a student of Gérôme, describes seeing L'Almée as it hung in the picture gallery at Vanderbilt's palatial mansion at Fifth Avenue and 51st Street, as having..."much the style of Gérôme...in perfection of modeling, and in anxious detail that yet does not lose sight of unity and wholeness of impression...fit to rank with the oriental subjects of Gérôme and Fromentin" (E. Shinn, Mr. Vanderbilt's House and Collection, vol. III, p. 12)
stamped with Vente stamp lower right--pencil on paper
11 x 7in. (28 x 17.9cm.) two (2)
Provenance
M. Knoedler & Co., New York
The Antiquarian, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Richard Townsend, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Charles Bargue was both a contemporary of and a collaborator with Jean Léon Gérôme, though he is often incorrectly described as being the latter's student. Indeed, the two artists prepared an illustrated drawing course for artists, Cours de Dessin, which is still used at the Florence Academy of Art. Bargue made his living as a printmaker, his oils being extremely rare and during the last decade of his life he rarely produced more than two pictures a year. His works were much sought after during his lifetime because of their consistently high quality.
Bargue shared Gérôme's fascination with Orientalist subjects and during the 1870's the two artists shared a studio. He created these themes in their Paris studio, based on costumes and props which Gérôme had acquired on his travels. The subject of L'Almée (or Almeh) is a Middle-Eastern dance entertainer and the model may have been Turkish. The meticulousness of his draftsmanship is evident in the preparatory drawing which accompanies the painting. This drawing is similar in pose to a watercolor recorded in the Victor Spark archives (S.3107) and to a third drawing in the drawings collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (20.166.2). All three drawings remained with Bargue until his death and were sold in the artist's estate sale in 1883.
Gerald M. Ackerman comments, "Bargue's execution was even finer than Gérôme's, and his sense of color more sumptuous" (G. M. Ackerman, The Life and Works of Jean-Léon Gérôme, Paris, p. 102). In a letter dated February 22, 1987 which discusses L'Almée, he writes: "The picture is a work of virtuosity such as only Bargue could paint. It has the fullness of forms typical of this style...and a richness of accurately seen and placed detail that we can find outside of 17th century Holland only in a Bargue or a Meissonier. Bargue was without a doubt one of the master technicians of his time.
It is not just Bargue's skill in painting fine details that makes him so wonderful, it is his control of the values of his hues. His details are always painted in subtle agreement with the light or shadow that discloses or surrounds them. Bargue's mastery of light and dark values enables him to place every object in a room exactly in space, so that it is precisely seen in its relationship to the light source and to every other article in the room...He was especially good at glistening marquetry and shadowy woodcarving, dimly lit brass, golden jewelry, nacreous surfaces, and voluptuous bodies under tight silken cloth. There are areas of pure marvel...such as the change of values along the mother-of-pearl insets on the Almeh's tambourine and on her jewelry. Note especially the little tassel that hangs from her left upper arm. It is as remarkably painted as the lamp that hangs over her head and glitters in the light without a single false value."
In his book The Treasures of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, published in 1899, A. Hoeber discusses two works by Bargue in the museum's collection, in terms that are equally appropriate for L'Almée: "...so that where Gérôme leaves one admiring, but cold, (Bargue) arouses a feeling of enthusiasm. This man...by the force of his dexterity with the brush...raised the art to the highest point of excellence" (p. 80-81).
Bargue's L'Almée is typical of the quality of William H. Vanderbilt's collection. Vanderbilt was one of the most prominent art collectors of his time, paying top prices for his purchases. Meissonier's Les Renseignements was purchased at approximately the same time as L'Almée for $50,000 through his agent Samuel P. Avery, establishing a record price for a work by a living artist. Earl Shinn, himself a student of Gérôme, describes seeing L'Almée as it hung in the picture gallery at Vanderbilt's palatial mansion at Fifth Avenue and 51st Street, as having..."much the style of Gérôme...in perfection of modeling, and in anxious detail that yet does not lose sight of unity and wholeness of impression...fit to rank with the oriental subjects of Gérôme and Fromentin" (E. Shinn, Mr. Vanderbilt's House and Collection, vol. III, p. 12)