Circle of Jean-Honoré Fragonard
French (1732–1806)
Pygmalion and Galatea
Oil on canvas
14 9/16 x 16 13/16 in. (37 x 42.7 cm)
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955.739
Provenance
- Baron Brunet-Denon (until 1846; sale, Paris, Feb. 2-15, 1846, no. 330, as Pygmalion amoureux de sa statue, by Fragonard);
- Hippolyte Walferdin (until 1880; sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, April 12-16, 1880, no. 50, as Pygmalion et la Statue, by Fragonard; sold to Brizac);
- Brizac;
- Douville;
- David David-Weill, Paris (probably after 19261; on consignment to Wildenstein, London, 1937)2;
- [Wildenstein, New York, sold to Clark, Dec. 31, 1942];
- Robert Sterling Clark (1942-1955);
- Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955.
Notes
- This painting is not included in the catalogue by Gabriel Henriot, Collection David-Weill (Paris, 1926-27), though it may have been in David-Weill's collection and omitted from the catalogue.
- In 1937, David-Weill consigned a large number of paintings to Wildenstein, London for sale. A portion of these, including this picture, were transferred to the dealer's New York branch and exhibited there from Nov. 10-Dec. 11, 1937. This painting appeared as no. 13, Pygmalion. Some of the remainder of his collection was confiscated in 1941 by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg, Hitler's official art-looting ministry, and was recovered after the war. Since the transfer to Wildenstein took place before the confiscation of part of his collection, David-Weill did not make any claim on the works with that firm. Therefore, this painting is not identified in the U.S. Army's Consolidated Interrogation Report, a document that lists many works recovered after the war, nor included in the List of Property Removed From France During the War 1939-1945 (Bureau central des restitutions à Berlin, 1947), which published owners' claims for unrecovered art and cites other works from the David-Weill collection. The painting has not been reported to the Art Loss Register.
