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Lot Essay
Jean-Baptiste Santerre was born northwest of Paris in Magny-en-Vexin and entered the studio of Bon de Boullogne (1649-1717) upon his arrival in Paris. In 1704, he was received at the Académie as both a portrait and history painter with two diploma pieces, a portrait of the painter Noël Coypel and his famous Susanna at the Bath (Louvre, Paris). Around 1712, King Louis XIV awarded him a pension, a studio and lodgings in the Louvre. He later became Peintre Ordinaire to Philippe II, Duc d’Orléans, Regent of France. Santerre enjoyed particular success with single-figure, half-length paintings, mostly depicting women engaged in various activities. His early biographer, Antoine-Joseph Dézallier d’Argenville (1680-1765) described these paintings as 'têtes de fantaisie’. Among many subjects by Santerre listed by Dézallier are:
Une rêveuse; une dormeuse; une chanteuse; une coupeuse de choux; les femmes qui lisent à la chandelle; celle qui dessine à la lumière; la femme voilée […] la coquette; la femme en colère; le fumeur; […] une femme qui cachette une lettre; l’Espagnolette; une femme en action de ménacer [sic]; &c.
[A woman dreaming, a woman sleeping, a woman singing, a woman cutting a cabbage; women reading by candlelight; another who is drawing by candlelight; a woman wearing a veil; […] the coquette; the angry woman, the smoker, [… ] a woman sealing a letter, the girl in Spanish costume, a woman threatening, etc.]
(A.-J. D. d’Argenville, op. cit., pp. 259, 262; quoted and translated in M. Percival, Fragonard and the Fantasy Figure: painting the imagination, Farnham and Burlington, c. 2012, n.p.).
The present painting shows a beautiful woman in a brilliant yellow dress, wearing a blue and gold scarf, seated at a table. She seemingly has been interrupted while reading a letter, perhaps from a lover. This somewhat provocative iconography was surely inspired by Golden Age paintings by Dutch artists such as Vermeer, ter Borch and Metsu. She wears a mischievous expression, at once alluring and intimidating, as she gestures toward the viewer. Signed and dated 1703, the painting has traditionally been called La Menaceuse [the menacing woman], based on an interpretation of her gesture as one of reprobation toward the viewer, who subjects her to his gaze. Yet for Santerre and his clientele this title was surely understood to be tongue-in-cheek, as his sitter’s coquettish smirk undercuts any sense of rejection. The composition was enormously successful, and the artist produced several subsequent versions, including one exhibited in the 1704 Salon, under the title 'Fille qui menace'. Early in its history, it was owned by the great eighteenth-century Swiss artist, Jean-Etienne Liotard.
Une rêveuse; une dormeuse; une chanteuse; une coupeuse de choux; les femmes qui lisent à la chandelle; celle qui dessine à la lumière; la femme voilée […] la coquette; la femme en colère; le fumeur; […] une femme qui cachette une lettre; l’Espagnolette; une femme en action de ménacer [sic]; &c.
[A woman dreaming, a woman sleeping, a woman singing, a woman cutting a cabbage; women reading by candlelight; another who is drawing by candlelight; a woman wearing a veil; […] the coquette; the angry woman, the smoker, [… ] a woman sealing a letter, the girl in Spanish costume, a woman threatening, etc.]
(A.-J. D. d’Argenville, op. cit., pp. 259, 262; quoted and translated in M. Percival, Fragonard and the Fantasy Figure: painting the imagination, Farnham and Burlington, c. 2012, n.p.).
The present painting shows a beautiful woman in a brilliant yellow dress, wearing a blue and gold scarf, seated at a table. She seemingly has been interrupted while reading a letter, perhaps from a lover. This somewhat provocative iconography was surely inspired by Golden Age paintings by Dutch artists such as Vermeer, ter Borch and Metsu. She wears a mischievous expression, at once alluring and intimidating, as she gestures toward the viewer. Signed and dated 1703, the painting has traditionally been called La Menaceuse [the menacing woman], based on an interpretation of her gesture as one of reprobation toward the viewer, who subjects her to his gaze. Yet for Santerre and his clientele this title was surely understood to be tongue-in-cheek, as his sitter’s coquettish smirk undercuts any sense of rejection. The composition was enormously successful, and the artist produced several subsequent versions, including one exhibited in the 1704 Salon, under the title 'Fille qui menace'. Early in its history, it was owned by the great eighteenth-century Swiss artist, Jean-Etienne Liotard.