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Lot Essay
Entre la richesse et l’amour has an interesting and varied history. As usual, Bouguereau sold this painting to Goupil on 27 January 1869. It was sold on in December of the same year to James H. Stebbins of New York, who was an avid art collector and the President of the Citizens Gas Light Company. The work found its way into the private collection of Colonel James Elverson, Jr., an avid stamp collector, yachtsman, clock collector and member of the Pennsylvania National Guard. It remained in American collections until late in the 20th century.
Beginning in 1869, images denoting a new aesthetic interest on the part of the artist began to appear in Bouguereau’s oeuvre of which the present painting is the first. These paintings, populated by figures in Renaissance costume of the 16th century, are interesting as they are the manifestation of a new interest in a historical period that had not previously attracted him. There is no documentary evidence to explain why the artist chose this particular period, and there are only six pictures in the artist’s extensive oeuvre that belong to this group, the other five being Le fleur d’aubépine, Le collier des perles, Séduction, La femme au gant and a sketch very similar to Séduction which remained in the artist’s studio. Perhaps a confluence of current events, the artist’s personal rediscovery of the works of Goethe and a developing relationship with Charles Gounod may have contributed to this new interest. The impact of literature and opera on the intellectual and artistic life of the 19th century cannot be underestimated. When Gounod was revising his Faust for the Paris Opéra in 1867 and 1868, he probably discussed this with Bouguereau who may even have attended one of the earliest rehearsals for the new version. The success of Gounod’s revised opera, with its themes of love, death and sin may have influenced this slight diversion in Bouguereau’s choice of subject matter.
Entre la richesse et l’amour depicts a young girl, demurely dressed in a rose-colored gown, seated between two suitors; an old grey-bearded man offering a jewelry box and a young musician, his hand over his heart as if that is the only offering he can make. Her hands are folded in her lap and she looks softly out of the picture frame, her gaze turned away from both suitors, her enigmatic smile revealing nothing about her ultimate choice. The narrative and interpretive aspects of the painting, as well as its setting in the 16th century, make Entre la richesse et l’amour a unique example of the abilities of the foremost master of academic painting in the 19th century.
Beginning in 1869, images denoting a new aesthetic interest on the part of the artist began to appear in Bouguereau’s oeuvre of which the present painting is the first. These paintings, populated by figures in Renaissance costume of the 16th century, are interesting as they are the manifestation of a new interest in a historical period that had not previously attracted him. There is no documentary evidence to explain why the artist chose this particular period, and there are only six pictures in the artist’s extensive oeuvre that belong to this group, the other five being Le fleur d’aubépine, Le collier des perles, Séduction, La femme au gant and a sketch very similar to Séduction which remained in the artist’s studio. Perhaps a confluence of current events, the artist’s personal rediscovery of the works of Goethe and a developing relationship with Charles Gounod may have contributed to this new interest. The impact of literature and opera on the intellectual and artistic life of the 19th century cannot be underestimated. When Gounod was revising his Faust for the Paris Opéra in 1867 and 1868, he probably discussed this with Bouguereau who may even have attended one of the earliest rehearsals for the new version. The success of Gounod’s revised opera, with its themes of love, death and sin may have influenced this slight diversion in Bouguereau’s choice of subject matter.
Entre la richesse et l’amour depicts a young girl, demurely dressed in a rose-colored gown, seated between two suitors; an old grey-bearded man offering a jewelry box and a young musician, his hand over his heart as if that is the only offering he can make. Her hands are folded in her lap and she looks softly out of the picture frame, her gaze turned away from both suitors, her enigmatic smile revealing nothing about her ultimate choice. The narrative and interpretive aspects of the painting, as well as its setting in the 16th century, make Entre la richesse et l’amour a unique example of the abilities of the foremost master of academic painting in the 19th century.