Etude de Chien de Terra-Nuova ("L'Attente")

Details

Jean-Léon Gérôme (French, 1824-1904)
Etude de Chien de Terra-Nuova ("L'Attente")
signed and dated 'J.L. GEROME./1852.' (lower left)
oil on canvas
52 5/8 x 37½ in. (133.6 x 95.3 cm.)

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 25 November 1977, lot 60.
with Schweitzer Gallery, New York, 1978.
Robert Goldsamt, New York.
with Richard L. Feigen, New York.

Literature

Thomas Gautier, 'La Presse', 24 June 1853.
Gerald M. Ackerman, The Life and Work of Jean Léon Gérôme with a catalogue raisonné, London, 1986, no. 48, p. 194, illustrated p. 95, color illustration p. 39.

Exhibited

Paris, Salon, 1853, no. 529 as Esquisse de chien (de Terre Neuve)

Lot Essay

This painting is an early example of Gérôme's dog portraits. It is the largest known work by the artist in this genre. It is also distinguished by its monumental treatment of the subject and its highly finished state. It has been suggested that this might be a portrait of one of the dogs owned by Gérôme. A small preparatory sketch for the composition, oil on panel, also exists (21.5 x 16.5 cm.). Even though this work is on a large-scale and is fully resolved, the term 'étude' was sometimes applied to such pictures depicting single figures without themes. Despite being very fond of dogs, Gérôme painted them without sentimentality.

We are grateful to Professor Gerald Ackerman for his kind assistance in the preparation of this catalogue entry.

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