LOT DETAILS

Materials:

oil on canvas

Measurements:

87.76 in. (222.90 cm.) (height) by 58.74 in. (149.20 cm.) (width)

Markings:

signed and dated 'W. BOUGUEREAU 1876' (lower center) and inscribed on the vase 'IN MEMORIAM DILECTI MEI FILII GEORGII DIE XIX JULII ANNO MDCCCLXXV'

Exhibited:

Paris, Salon de 1876, no. 240. Paris, Exposition Universelle, 1878, no. 97. Düsseldorf, Städtische Kunsthalle, Der Sehende. Das Sichtbare. Das Sehen, 1982. Paris, Musée du Petit Palais, William Bouguereau, 9 February-6 May 1984, no. 68; also, Montreal, Museum of Fine Arts, 22 June-23 September 1984 and Hartford, Wadsworth Atheneum, 27 October 1984-13 January 1985. New York, Borghi & Co., William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 'l'Art pompier', 14 November 1991-7 January 1992, s.n. (catalogue by R. Rosenblum). Hastings on Hudson, Newington Cropsey Foundation, Virtue, Truth and the Glorious Infinity: Select Works of William A. Bouguereau, 1999. Dallas Museum of Art, on loan. San Francisco, Legion of Honor Museum, on loan.

Literature:

V. de Swarte, Lettres sur le Salon de 1876, Paris, 1876, p. 40. Goupil & Cie, ed., Salon de 1876: Réproductions des principaux ouvrages accompagnées de sonnets par Adrien Dézamy, Paris, 1876, pl. II. E. About,'Le Salon de 1876', La République de Montpellier, 30 May 1876. M. Vachon, 'Avant Le Salon', La France, 1876, 'The Pietà was executed in two months; it is a real tour de force.'. M. Proth, Voyage au pays des peintres, Salon de 1876, Paris, 1876, pp. 35-36. J. Prouvaise, 'Le Salon de 1876', La République des Lettres, Paris, 1876, p. 178. C. Yriarte, 'Salon de 1876', Gazette des Beaux-Arts, series 2, vol. 13, 1876, pp. 707, 712. C. Vendryès, Dictionnaire illustré des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1885, p. 53. G. Marc, Les Beaux Arts en Auvergne et à Paris, Paris, 1889, p. 79. Franqueville, William Bouguereau, Paris, 1895, p. 370. M. Vachon, W. Bouguereau, Paris, 1900, p. 152. J. Doucet, Les peintres francais, Paris, n.d., p. 164. L. d'Argencourt and M.S. Walker, William Bouguereau, 1984, pp. 198-199, no. 68. Borghi & Co., New York, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, "l'Art pompier", 1991, pp. 9-10, 32, 33, 70. M.S. Walker, William Bouguereau: A Summary Catalogue of the Paintings, New York, 1991, p. 70. F. Wissman, Bouguereau, San Francisco, 1996, pp. 74-75.

Provenance:

Sold by the artist to Prince Demidoff 29 July 1876 (30,000 francs). Sedelmeyer sale, 1877 (18,000 francs). with Goupil & Cie., Paris. Private collection, Spain, until circa 1941. Albert Benamou, Paris. with Stuart Pivar, New York, until 1982. Sylvester Stallone, Los Angeles. with Stuart Pivar, New York. Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, New York, 24 October 1996, lot 130. with Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York. Parrish Collection, Texas.