Girl with Mandolin
- Artist
- Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French, 1796–1875
- Date
- 1860–65
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- depicts
- Paris, Île-de-France region, France, Europe
- Classification
- Paintings
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 206
- Dimensions
- 20 1/4 x 15 7/8 in. (51.4 x 40.3 cm)
framed: 27 1/4 x 23 3/8 x 2 3/4 in. (69.2 x 59.4 x 7 cm) - Credit Line
- Museum Purchase
- Rights
- Contact Us
- Object Number
- 3:1939
NOTES
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot was nearly 70 years old and at the height of his considerable fame as a landscape artist when he painted Girl with Mandolin. Corot employed models and directed them to strike contemplative attitudes, often holding an instrument or a book. Posing in the theatrical space of the studio, this young woman wears an Italian peasant costume and idly plucks the mandolin strings.
Provenance
- 1874
Hector-Henri-Clément Brame (1831-1899), Paris, France
1874/01/29
In sale of Brame's collection, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, January 29, 1874, lot no. 15 [1]
- 1898
Antoine Marmontel (1816-1898), Paris, France [2]
1898/03/29
In sale of Marmontel's collection, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, March 28-29, 1898, lot no. 83
- 1911
Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, France [3]
1911 -
Baron Mór Lipót Herzog (1869-1934), Budapest, Hungary, purchased from Galerie Bernheim-Jeune [4]
1923 - 1939
Wildenstein & Co., London, England; New York, NY, USA, and Paul Rosenberg, Paris, France (owned jointly) [5]
1939 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Wildenstein & Co. [6]
Notes:
[1] See sale catalogue ["Tableaux modernes appartenant a M. B***." Paris: Hôtel Drouot, January 29, 1874, lot not. 15]. The 1874 sale is generally assumed to have been of Hector Brame's collection, and is even published as such in the invaluable art historical reference known as Lugt's Répertoire [Lugt, Frits. "Répertoire des catalogues de ventes publiques, intéressant l'art ou la curiosité." Troisième Période 1861-1900. La Haye: Martinus Nijhoff, 1964, no. 34477]. Brame, an actor and dealer who was partial to figure paintings by Corot, and was personally acquainted with the artist, sold this painting in his 1874 sale. It later appeared in the sale of Marmontel's collection in 1898 [Yeide, Nancy. "Hector Brame: An art dealer in nineteenth-century Paris." "Apollo" 147, 433 (March 1998): p. 42]. See note [2].
[2] See note [1]. Although direct transfer of this painting from Brame to Marmontel is not documented, Hector Brame is known to have associated with Antoine Marmontel, a French musician and collector to whom Brame had previously sold paintings. Brame also served as expert in the 1898 Marmontel estate sale [letters from Nancy Yeide to the Museum dated June 10, 1997 and September 5, 1997, SLAM document files]. The sale of Marmontel's collection, which included other music-themed paintings, was held after his death in 1898 ["Tableaux, aquarelles, gouaches et dessins anciens et modernes: Collection de feu M. A. Marmontel." Paris: Hôtel Drouot, March 28-29, 1898, lot no. 83]. The 1905 Corot catalogue raisonné confirms that the painting was in Marmontel's collection, and sold at his 1898 sale [Robaut, Alfred. "L'Oeuvre de Corot, Catalogue raisonné et illustré," vol. 3. Paris: H. Floury, 1905, no. 1513].
[3] Bernheim-Jeune is listed in the provenance of this painting in a 2008 Corot publication ["Corot: Souvenirs et Variations." Tokyo: Kokuritsu Seiyo Bijutsukan, 2008]. An undated publication on Corot by Artur Seemann, illustrates this painting, and indicates that it is in the Paris collection of "Bernheim jr." [Seemann, Artur. "Camille Corot, Acht farbige Gemaldewiedergaben." Leipzig: Verlag E. A. Seemann, n.d., no. 3]. The Paris art firm Galerie Bernheim-Jeune was run by brothers Gaston Bernheim de Villers (1870-1953) and Josse Bernheim (1870-1941), established by their father Alexandre Bernheim (1833-1915) ["Bernheim-Jeune," National Gallery of Art, accessed March 6, 2009]. Bernheim-Jeune records indicate that the painting was sold by the gallery to Baron Herzog (see note [4]) on August 31, 1911 [letter dated June 9, 2009 from Guy-Patrice Dauberville, Director of Bernheim-Jeune & Cie., SLAM document files].
[4] See note [3]. The Hungarian banker Baron Mór Lipót Herzog, also known as Baron Maurice Herzog, had an extensive art collection containing around 2000 objects. Baron Herzog is listed as a previous owner in a 1928 Corot catalogue ["Exposition d'Oeuvres de Camille J.-B. Corot (1796-1875): Figures et Paysages d'Italie." Paris: Paul Rosenberg, 1928, no. 35].
[5] The painting was jointly purchased July 18, 1923 by the dealers Wildenstein and Rosenberg, in whose possession it remained until it was purchased by the Museum [two emails to the Museum from Ay-Whang Hsia, Vice President of Wildenstein & Co., Inc., both dated March 25, 2009, SLAM document files]. Hsia also confirmed that a 1935 Wildenstein catalogue includes the painting ["Nineteenth Century Masterpieces." London: Wildenstein & Co., 1935, cat. no. 20].
[6] Invoice from Wildenstein & Co. dated February 1, 1939 [SLAM document files]. The painting had been on loan to the Museum for consideration since May 1938. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, December 8, 1938 and January 5, 1939.
Hector-Henri-Clément Brame (1831-1899), Paris, France
1874/01/29
In sale of Brame's collection, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, January 29, 1874, lot no. 15 [1]
- 1898
Antoine Marmontel (1816-1898), Paris, France [2]
1898/03/29
In sale of Marmontel's collection, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, March 28-29, 1898, lot no. 83
- 1911
Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, France [3]
1911 -
Baron Mór Lipót Herzog (1869-1934), Budapest, Hungary, purchased from Galerie Bernheim-Jeune [4]
1923 - 1939
Wildenstein & Co., London, England; New York, NY, USA, and Paul Rosenberg, Paris, France (owned jointly) [5]
1939 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Wildenstein & Co. [6]
Notes:
[1] See sale catalogue ["Tableaux modernes appartenant a M. B***." Paris: Hôtel Drouot, January 29, 1874, lot not. 15]. The 1874 sale is generally assumed to have been of Hector Brame's collection, and is even published as such in the invaluable art historical reference known as Lugt's Répertoire [Lugt, Frits. "Répertoire des catalogues de ventes publiques, intéressant l'art ou la curiosité." Troisième Période 1861-1900. La Haye: Martinus Nijhoff, 1964, no. 34477]. Brame, an actor and dealer who was partial to figure paintings by Corot, and was personally acquainted with the artist, sold this painting in his 1874 sale. It later appeared in the sale of Marmontel's collection in 1898 [Yeide, Nancy. "Hector Brame: An art dealer in nineteenth-century Paris." "Apollo" 147, 433 (March 1998): p. 42]. See note [2].
[2] See note [1]. Although direct transfer of this painting from Brame to Marmontel is not documented, Hector Brame is known to have associated with Antoine Marmontel, a French musician and collector to whom Brame had previously sold paintings. Brame also served as expert in the 1898 Marmontel estate sale [letters from Nancy Yeide to the Museum dated June 10, 1997 and September 5, 1997, SLAM document files]. The sale of Marmontel's collection, which included other music-themed paintings, was held after his death in 1898 ["Tableaux, aquarelles, gouaches et dessins anciens et modernes: Collection de feu M. A. Marmontel." Paris: Hôtel Drouot, March 28-29, 1898, lot no. 83]. The 1905 Corot catalogue raisonné confirms that the painting was in Marmontel's collection, and sold at his 1898 sale [Robaut, Alfred. "L'Oeuvre de Corot, Catalogue raisonné et illustré," vol. 3. Paris: H. Floury, 1905, no. 1513].
[3] Bernheim-Jeune is listed in the provenance of this painting in a 2008 Corot publication ["Corot: Souvenirs et Variations." Tokyo: Kokuritsu Seiyo Bijutsukan, 2008]. An undated publication on Corot by Artur Seemann, illustrates this painting, and indicates that it is in the Paris collection of "Bernheim jr." [Seemann, Artur. "Camille Corot, Acht farbige Gemaldewiedergaben." Leipzig: Verlag E. A. Seemann, n.d., no. 3]. The Paris art firm Galerie Bernheim-Jeune was run by brothers Gaston Bernheim de Villers (1870-1953) and Josse Bernheim (1870-1941), established by their father Alexandre Bernheim (1833-1915) ["Bernheim-Jeune," National Gallery of Art, accessed March 6, 2009
[4] See note [3]. The Hungarian banker Baron Mór Lipót Herzog, also known as Baron Maurice Herzog, had an extensive art collection containing around 2000 objects. Baron Herzog is listed as a previous owner in a 1928 Corot catalogue ["Exposition d'Oeuvres de Camille J.-B. Corot (1796-1875): Figures et Paysages d'Italie." Paris: Paul Rosenberg, 1928, no. 35].
[5] The painting was jointly purchased July 18, 1923 by the dealers Wildenstein and Rosenberg, in whose possession it remained until it was purchased by the Museum [two emails to the Museum from Ay-Whang Hsia, Vice President of Wildenstein & Co., Inc., both dated March 25, 2009, SLAM document files]. Hsia also confirmed that a 1935 Wildenstein catalogue includes the painting ["Nineteenth Century Masterpieces." London: Wildenstein & Co., 1935, cat. no. 20].
[6] Invoice from Wildenstein & Co. dated February 1, 1939 [SLAM document files]. The painting had been on loan to the Museum for consideration since May 1938. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, December 8, 1938 and January 5, 1939.