Auctioned by Sotheby's last year under the title "La Dame aux roses", this painting brought in $37,500 against an estimate of $6,000-8,000. It carried an attribution as being by Jean-Simon Fournier, even though it is signed "L. Boilly", Boilly being historically credited with the work. The latter was a much more accomplished painter than the obscure Fournier. And to my eyes, this painting has all the hallmarks of Boilly's work and nothing of the relative crudity of Fournier's. I'd love to know more about how it came to bear the attribution....
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| A signature by Boilly is clearly visible; could it have been added later? |
Sotheby's' provenance record, showing this painting's theft by the Nazis and eventual restitution to the Rothschild family, is particularity interesting:
- Louis Rothschild, Vienna;
- Confiscated from the above, October 20, 1939 and originally allocated for the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna;
- Intercepted and re-allocated for the Kunstmuseum Linz (inv. LR 717), July 31, 1940 and stored at Aussee Salt Mine (inv. 3057);
- Munich Central Collecting Point (inv. 4408) (as “V.Boilly [Portrait of a Lady])”, July 15, 1945;
- Repatriated to the Austrian government, May 6, 1946 and restituted to the Rothschild family in August 1947;
- Rene Fribourg, by 1954;
- By whom sold, London, Sotheby’s, 26 June 1963, lot 71 (as Boilly).
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| This photograph, showing the lovely frame, looks to be have been taken before subsequent cleaning/restoration of the painting. |
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