Jean-Léon GÉRÔME Vesoul, 1824 - Paris, 1904 Hunting... Lot 149

Jean-Léon GÉRÔME Vesoul, 1824 - Paris, 1904 Hunting in the Forest of Meudon, known as La Chasse Rothschild Oil on canvas (Original canvas) Dedicated, signed and localized 'à mon ami Bamberger, / J L. Gérôme / (souvenir de Meudon)' lower left Annotated 'CARREFOUR / DES / BABILLARDS' top right A letter on verso Hunting scene, oil on canvas (original canvas), signed and located, annotated, by J. L. Gérôme 53.50 x 81 cm (21.06 x 31.89 in.) Provenance: Henri Bamberger Collection, Paris ; Collection Amélie de Hirsch, his wife, Paris ; Galerie Marumo Père, Paris ; Schweitzer Gallery, New York, 1960 ; Lincoln Kirstein Collection, New York; Donated to the School of American Ballet by Lincoln Kirstein ; Anonymous sale; New York, Christie's, March 1, 1990, no. 85 ; Private collection, Paris; Then by descent; Private collection, Netherlands Exhibitions: Cercle de l'Union Artistique, Paris, 1889 Bibliography: Gaston Jollivet, "Le salon des Mirlitons", in 'Paris illustré', April 20, 1889, p. 255, no. 68 Fanny Field Hering, 'Gérôme, his life and work', New York, 1892, p. 273 Emmanuel-Henri de Grouchy, vicomte de Grouchy, 'Meudon, Belleville et Chaville', Paris, 1893, mentioned p. 88 Quarry L. Kirstein, 'A collection in Lieu of Memoirs', Pasadena, 1986, p. 88-89 Gerald M. Ackerman, 'The Life and Work of Jean-Léon Gérôme', London, 1896, pp. 262-63, no. 359 Gerald M. Ackerman, 'Jean-Léon Gérôme, monographie révisée', Paris, 2000, p. 322, no. 359, illustrated p. 323 ; Jean Lambert-Dansette, 'Histoire de l'entreprise et des chefs d'entreprises en France', Condé sur Noireau, 2000, p. 443 Comment: This wonderfully well-preserved canvas bears witness to Jean-Léon Gérôme's technical mastery. The artist was at the height of his powers when he painted this picture for his close friend Henri Bamberger. As his success grew, Gérôme became more intimate with his clients, who included high finance, the aristocracy and, in some cases, the great American fortunes. The action of the painting is that of a hunt in the forest of Meudon, at the crossroads of the Babillards, as indicated by the sign to the right of the canvas, i.e. at the corner of the Cordon bas road and the Cordon de Vélizy road. High society is gathered here, and we recognize three figures in particular: in the center, seated with his magazine at his side, is Baron Alphonse de Rothschild; the hunter standing between the two dogs is said to be the recipient of the painting, Henri Bamberger; and lastly, whether a palette coquetry or a precise wish on the part of the commissioner, the painter has depicted himself in a blue raincoat, detached from the hunting action, rifle pointed at the ground, facing the viewer, looking detached. Gérôme was a close friend of Henri Bamberger, as attested by the letter dated May 16, 1889 on the reverse of the painting. The painter says of this hunting day: "It's a souvenir of the beautiful Forêt where we won't be going any more and where we had great joys, and then you'll put me up for a while in your house by hanging me along a wall". If the painter excelled in retranscribing the freshly damp atmosphere of a winter undergrowth, it was the social gathering that interested his patron. Henri Bamberger came from a family of bankers established in several European cities, and was the brother of Louis Bamberger, one of the founders of the Dutch Bank and the Reichsbank. Director of the Banque de Crédit et du Dépôt des Pays-Bas, he merged his establishment with the Banque de Paris, creating the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas. His fortune was colossal, and his private mansion at 12-14 rond-point des Champs-Elysées housed an important art collection. Fanny Fiel Hering (cf. biblio) describes this painting as "a charming landscape, whose central figure is the hospitable friend on whose land Gérôme regularly comes to hunt, twice a week, during the season". We thus learn that Jean-Léon Gérôme was not the detached spectator of a hunting action he wanted to depict in the painting, but that he was assiduous enough in indulging his passion to practice it twice a week.