Costume design for Sapho

Details

GUSTAVE MOREAU (FRENCH, 1826-1898)
Costume design for Sapho
signed with monogram ‘GM’ (lower left) and inscribed in graphite ‘Mme Krauss - Sapho- / robe blanche -/ ornements violets […] vert’/ manteau scabieuse ou noir’ (lower right)
graphite, on thin wove paper
11 3/8 x 7 in. (29.1 x 17.7 cm.)

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 11 December 1930, lot 134 (sold for 70 francs).
Gustave Lebel (1870-1945), Paris; by descent to
Jean Ehrmann (1902-1984), Paris (L. 3581).
‌‌‌Anonymous sale; Christie’s, London, 4 April 1978, lot 113.
‌Private collection, The Netherlands, by 1992.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby’s, London, 10 July 1995, lot 103.
‌Acquired by Ann and Gordon Getty from the above.

Literature

P.-L. Mathieu, Gustave Moreau, sa vie, son œuvre. Catalogue raisonné de l’œuvre achevé, Paris, 1976, no. 296, ill.
P.-L. Mathieu, Gustave Moreau. Complete Edition of the Finished Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings, Oxford, 1977, no. 296, ill.
P.-L. Mathieu, Gustave Moreau. Monographie et nouveau catalogue de l’œuvre achevé, Paris, 1998, no. 332, ill.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Joshua Glazer Specialist, Head of Private Sales

jglazer@christies.com +1 212 636 2125

Lot Essay

In 1883, Moreau was commissioned to produce costume designs for Charles Gounod’s opera Sapho, performed at the Opéra de Paris the following year. It is unclear why his designs were not used and the commission subsequently given to the inhouse costume designer Eugène Lacoste. It is possible that Moreau’s costumes were considered too elaborate and therefore too costly to produce.

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