Lot 22
John WHITE ALEXANDER (1856-1915). Portrait d'Edith Revil. Huile sur toile signée et datée 1900 en...

John WHITE ALEXANDER (1856-1915).
Portrait d'Edith Revil.
Huile sur toile signée et datée 1900 en bas à droite.
Haut.: 121,5 - Larg.: 91 cm (quelques efflorescences)
Cadre d'origine (Haut.: 155 - Larg.: 123 cm accidenté) identique à celui de l'œuvre "The Blue Bowl" conservée au Rhode Island School of Design Museum, illustré en couverture de la monographie de l'artiste rédigée par Mary Anne Goley.

Provenance:
- Acquis par Monsieur et Madame Fernand Revil parents du modèle en 1900.
- Edith Revil épouse Monsieur Jean Guiffrey, conservateur du département des peintures, dessins et chalcographie au Musée du Louvre, le portrait rejoint leur collection suite au mariage.
- Demeuré dans la famille par succession.

Pour enchérir sur ce lot merci de contacter l'étude préalablement au +33 4 67 60 90 18 ou sur contact@farran-encheres.com, IL NE SERA PAS POSSIBLE D'ENCHÉRIR SUR LE LIVE.

Bibliographie:
- John White Alexander, "Posing as a fine Art", Harper's Bazaar, vol 34, n°5, 2 février 1901, illustré page 273.
- Carnegie Institute, Department of fine arts, Pittsburg, "Catalogue of paintings, John White Alexander, memorial exhibition" mars 1916, page 45.
- Mary Anne Goley, "John White Alexander, An American Artist in the Gilded Age", 2018, page 110.

Le tableau est cité dans ce catalogue du Carnegie Institute parmi les oeuvres réalisées par John White Alexander à Paris en 1900 avec un portrait d'Auguste Rodin et un autre du président Loubet. Il est mentionné que le tableau a été acquis par Fernand Revil père d'Edith Revil.
Notre tableau inédit, n'est pas présenté à la rétrospective de 1916 au Carnegie Institute car resté en France. Il est néanmoins mentionné parmi ces œuvres principales.

L'œuvre sera intégrée au catalogue raisonné de Mary Anne Goley actuellement en préparation "John White Alexander (1856-1915) A complete Catalogue Raisonne", 2026.
Nous la remercions pour son commentaire complet sur l'œuvre.

Mary Anne Goley / 4909 Washington Blvd. / Arlington, Virginia
22205 / USA / 703 525-8676:

Provenance:
Mr. Fernand Revil; Mme. Fernand Revil; Jean and Solange Guiffrey; descended through the family (1952); Farran Commissaires-Priseurs, Montpelier (2025)

References:
John W. Alexander, “Posing As A Fine Art,” Harper’s Bazaar, vol. 34, no. 5, Feb. 2, 1901, illus. 273 ; Catalogue of Paintings John White Alexander Memorial Exhibition, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Department of Fine Arts, March 1916, 45 ; Mary Anne Goley, John White Alexander, An American Artist in the Gilded Age, (London: PWP Publishers, 2018), 110 ; Farran Commissaires-Priseur, Montpellier, May 4, 2025 Forthcoming: Mary Anne Goley, John White Alexander (1856-1915), A Complete Catalogue Raisonne (2026)

Archival Sources:
John White Alexander papers, Archives of American Art Correspondence, 1898-1900, box 1, folder 47, frames 36, 37 and 38: Letter July 26,1900 Oral History Interview of Elizabeth Alexander by DeWitt Lockman, Feb. 24, 1928, box 1, folder 9, frame 7; Notes and Writings: Registers of Paintings and Exhibitions circa 1887-1913: box 2, folder 11, frame 10: Portraits. Painted in 1900- in Paris/ + Scotland-/Subject/ Miss Edith Revil / Description / Child – full length / seated with Dog. ; Lists of Paintings, circa 1893-1943, box 2, folder 12, frame 27: Miss Edith Révil /Daughter of Fernand Revil / Painted in Paris by J.W.A. 1900 / Owned by Mr. Révil ; frame 44 (a list of subjects): Revil ; Series 10, Photographs, circa 1870-1915, Oversized Phographs of Paintings, Vintage Prints, circa 1879-1899, box OV 40: Edith Revil / Miss Edith Revil / Daughter of M. Fernand Revil / Painted in Paris by JWA 1900 / Owned by M. Revil ;

Remarks:
The engaging wide-eyed and long haired fourteen year old, Edith Revil, daughter of Fernand, sits in a forward position upon a red settee. Her right arm rests on her knee and the right hand supports her head. The red lips, blush on the cheeks and the
red flower in her hair counter balance the red settee on which she sits. Her green dress has full sleeves and she is wearing a locket on a chain around her neck. A black and white dog with a black patch around the eye reclines at her feet. Stylistically,
the use of primary colors, rather than a soft tonalist palette, is taking a step away from Alexander’s typical Whistlerian tendencies. Her father is described by Jean Louis Libourel (attelage-patrimoine.com, Nov. 28. 2013) as an amiable character, whose solid fortune and taste for fine things permitted a comfortable and brilliant lifestyle---travel, archaeology, architecture and photography. He became known for a particular manner of transportation, traversing the roads of France in a caravan or horse-drawn carriage equipped with the comforts of home.
Edith married Maurice Fauguet in 1913 and then Georges Henri Jean Guiffrey, c. 1928. He had been on leave from the Louvre to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts between 1911-1914 as curator of paintings.
Alluding to an artist client relationship is an undecipherable letter writer who wrote from 37 Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh on July 26, 1900. He was unable to be available for a visit while Alexander was in Scotland and reminds the artist of the
time his cousin Madame Revil brought him to the painter’s Paris studio. The reproduction of the portrait hanging in the Revil apartment at 199 Blvd. Malersherbes has been provided by the family and presumably dates to about 1900. Alexander was a neighbor, having moved to 190 Blvd. Malersherbes in 1899.

Estimation : 30 000 € à 50 000 €