Lot 26: JEAN-JULES-ANTOINE LECOMTE DU NOUŸ | The harem's gate, souvenir of Cairo

oil on canvas ; signed and dated lower left LECOMTE DU NOUY 1876

75 x 130,5 cm ; 29 1/2 x 51 3/8 in.

We want to thank Michael Robinson from J.H. Cooke and Sons for having kindly examined the painting and made a condition report : The painting was examined in strong artificial light, in a raking light, under magnification and under ultra violet light. The painting has been lined with paste onto a linen canvas. The lined picture has four neat repairs that are both to the original and the lined canvas. The repairs, measuring around 4 cm each have been well made. They are in plain with relatively little associated paint loss. The adhesion within the work appears good and the picture structurally stable. The paint surface is covered in a thick layer of discoloured varnish layer. Examination under UV light reveals retouching to the 4 canvas repairs previously mentioned and only a few minor touches elsewhere.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Paris, Salon, 1877, n°1267 ;
London, Royal Academy of Arts ; Washington, National Gallery of Art, The Orientalists : Delacroix to Kandinsky. The Allure of North Africa and the Middle East, 1984, cat. 86 ;
New York, Dahesh Museum of Art,  From Homer to the Harem : the Art of Jean Lecomte Du Nouÿ, 2004, fig. 101 (illustration of a detail of the painting p. 58, and illustrated in full p. 105, fig. 101;
Brussels, Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Munich, Kunsthalle der Hypo Kulturstiftung, Marseille, Centre de la Vieille Charité, L'orientalisme en Europe, De Delacroix à Matisse, October 2010 - August 2011, illustrated p. 297 in the exhibition catalogue

Ernest Boysse, article in La Patrie, 1876 ;
L. E. Duranty, "Réflexions d'un bourgeois sur le Salon" in Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Paris, July 1877, pp. 79-80 ;
Henry Houssaye, "Le Salon de 1877 - II" in La Revue des Deux Mondes, Paris, 15 June 1877, p. 844 ;
Guy de Montgailhard, Lecomte du Noüy, Paris, 1906, p. 53 and p. 121 (as belonging to M. le vicomte Daupias) ;
Lynne Thornton, Les Orientalistes peintres voyageurs, Paris, 1983, illustrated pp. 188-189 ;
Philip Hook and Mark Poltimore,  Popular 19th Century paintings, a dictionary of European genre painting, Woodbridge 1986, illustrated in color p.57;
Hugh Honour, The Image of the Black in Western Art, Cambridge, 1989, IV-2, pp. 174-176, fig. 129

Galerie Georges Petit, Paris ;
Collection of M. le vicomte Daupias, Lisbon ;
His sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 1892, lot 143 ;
Sale, London, 3 November 1977, lot 59 ;
Purchased at the above by Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent