Lot Essay
Painted circa 1878-1885.
Cléopâtre sur le Nil was purchased from the artist by the Marseille collector Antoni Roux (2,000FF). Roux was an avid collector and personal friend of Moreau whose patronage resulted in one of Moreau's most important commissions--the watercolor illustrations for La Fontaine's Fables which he worked on from 1879-1886. Cléopâtre sur le Nil dates from the same period and is not only rare in the artist's oeuvre for its subject matter, but also for the manner in which Cleopatra is presented, seated in the boat as opposed to standing against a rocky backdrop. At the time of Roux's death in 1913, his collection contained eighty-five works by Moreau. The painting later passed to another of Moreau's great collectors; Mme. Raffalovich. Her impressive collection of paintings by Moreau featured not only this work and Le Retour de l'enfant prodigue (see lot 32), but also Jacob et l'ange (Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts) which earned Moreau critical acclaim in the 1878 Exposition Universelle.
This work will be included in the forthcoming Nouveau catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre de Gustave Moreau by Pierre-Louis Mathieu.
We are grateful to Pierre-Louis Mathieu for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.
Cléopâtre sur le Nil was purchased from the artist by the Marseille collector Antoni Roux (2,000FF). Roux was an avid collector and personal friend of Moreau whose patronage resulted in one of Moreau's most important commissions--the watercolor illustrations for La Fontaine's Fables which he worked on from 1879-1886. Cléopâtre sur le Nil dates from the same period and is not only rare in the artist's oeuvre for its subject matter, but also for the manner in which Cleopatra is presented, seated in the boat as opposed to standing against a rocky backdrop. At the time of Roux's death in 1913, his collection contained eighty-five works by Moreau. The painting later passed to another of Moreau's great collectors; Mme. Raffalovich. Her impressive collection of paintings by Moreau featured not only this work and Le Retour de l'enfant prodigue (see lot 32), but also Jacob et l'ange (Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts) which earned Moreau critical acclaim in the 1878 Exposition Universelle.
This work will be included in the forthcoming Nouveau catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre de Gustave Moreau by Pierre-Louis Mathieu.
We are grateful to Pierre-Louis Mathieu for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.