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Lot Essay
The present picture was exhibited as no. 99 in the Salon of 1775. In the same Salon the artist also exhibited another large composition, of almost the same size, Ceres with Attributes of Hunting and Gardening (present location unknown), which was possibly the pendant to the present lot. Both pictures were much admired by the critics, (see Observation sur le salon du Louvre, 1775) and may well have been acquired at the Salon by the Abbé Terray, in whose collection the pictures remained until his death in 1779.
Joseph Marie Terray (1715-1778), was appointed General Controller of Finance in 1769, and State Minister of Finance the following year. He was a prolific collector of art and his cabinet sold at auction after his death on January 20, 1779, was composed of paintings and sculptures by many of the best-known artists of the time.
Anne Vallayer-Coster joined the Académie in 1770, at the age of 26, as a painter specializing in still-lifes. Women painters played a prominent role in the artistic life of eighteenth century France, and between 1663 and 1783, fifteen women were admitted to the Académie. Because of the lack of opportunity for female artists to study from the nude model, women academicians concentrated, for the most part, on portrait and still-lifes as opposed to 'history painting'. Anne Vallayer-Coster regularly exhibited at the Salon from 1771 to 1817 and was praised by contemporary critics. One anonymous contemporary commentator, referring to the beauty of the present lot, even bestowed upon the artist the ultimate accolade of being able to paint flowers and fruits as well as a male artist: 'Mlle Vallayer soutient une célébrité justement acquise par d'excellents tableaux...le tableau où l'on voit un buste de Flore est aussi de la plus grande beauté...les tableaux de fleurs et de fruits sone traités en habile homme' (quoted in Observations sur les Ouvrages exposés au Salon du Louvre, 1775).
Joseph Marie Terray (1715-1778), was appointed General Controller of Finance in 1769, and State Minister of Finance the following year. He was a prolific collector of art and his cabinet sold at auction after his death on January 20, 1779, was composed of paintings and sculptures by many of the best-known artists of the time.
Anne Vallayer-Coster joined the Académie in 1770, at the age of 26, as a painter specializing in still-lifes. Women painters played a prominent role in the artistic life of eighteenth century France, and between 1663 and 1783, fifteen women were admitted to the Académie. Because of the lack of opportunity for female artists to study from the nude model, women academicians concentrated, for the most part, on portrait and still-lifes as opposed to 'history painting'. Anne Vallayer-Coster regularly exhibited at the Salon from 1771 to 1817 and was praised by contemporary critics. One anonymous contemporary commentator, referring to the beauty of the present lot, even bestowed upon the artist the ultimate accolade of being able to paint flowers and fruits as well as a male artist: 'Mlle Vallayer soutient une célébrité justement acquise par d'excellents tableaux...le tableau où l'on voit un buste de Flore est aussi de la plus grande beauté...les tableaux de fleurs et de fruits sone traités en habile homme' (quoted in Observations sur les Ouvrages exposés au Salon du Louvre, 1775).