NICOLAS DE LARGILLIERRE (PARIS 1656-1746) - photo 1
NICOLAS DE LARGILLIERRE (PARIS 1656-1746) - photo 2
NICOLAS DE LARGILLIERRE (PARIS 1656-1746) - photo 3
NICOLAS DE LARGILLIERRE (PARIS 1656-1746) - photo 4

NICOLAS DE LARGILLIERRE (PARIS 1656-1746)

Lot 27
21.11.2024 16:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
€ 529 200
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1336068
Lot 27 | NICOLAS DE LARGILLIERRE (PARIS 1656-1746)
Estimate value
€ 50 000 – 80 000
NICOLAS DE LARGILLIERRE (PARIS 1656-1746)
Portrait d'une femme, à mi-corps
huile sur toile
81,2 x 65 cm (32 x 25 ½ in.)

Provenance
Probablement dans la collection du baron Henri de Rothschild (1872-1947), Paris.
Collection du baron Philippe de Rothschild (1902-1988), Paris et Arcachon (inv. no. 24).
Spolié du dépôt de Philippe de Rothschild à la Société Générale, Arcachon, sous la direction du Devisenschutzkommando en novembre 1940 et transféré au Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg, Jeu de Paume, Paris, en février 1941 (ERR no. R 437).
Transféré au château de Neuschwanstein, Allemagne.
Récupéré par l’unité Monuments Fine Arts and Archives au château de Neuschwanstein, Allemagne.
Renvoyé en France directement depuis celui-ci le 13 novembre 1945 et restitué au baron Henri de Rothschild, le 3 mai 1946 ;
Puis par descendance à Philippine de Rothschild (1933-2014), Paris ; vente anonyme, Palais d'Orsay, Paris, 13 juin 1978 (Mes E. Ader, A. Ader, Picard & Tajan), lot 33 ;
Acquis au cours de celle-ci par l'actuel propriétaire.


Literature

BIBLIOGRAPHIE (photo Monuments Men)

R. M. Edsel, Rescuing Da Vinci. Hitler and the Nazis stole Europe’s Great Art, America and Her Allies Recovered It, Dallas, 2006, reproduit en noir et blanc sur le rabat de la couverture et p. 181.
R. M. Edsel, Monuments Men. Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History, New York-Boston-Nashville, 2009, reproduit en noir et blanc sur la couverture.
I. Lauterbach, The Central Collecting Point in Munich. A New Beginning for the Restitution and Protection of Art, Los Angeles, 2018, reproduit en noir et blanc p. 7, fig. 16 et p. 23, fig. 34.
D. Alexander, S. Sackeroff, Afterlives. Recovering the Lost Stories of Looted Art, Londres, 2021, reproduit en noir et blanc p. 115.

WEBOGRAPHIE SELECTIVE (photo Monuments Men)

R. Kennedy, 'G.I. Joes to the Rescue of Rembrandts and Raphaels', The New York Times [en ligne], 19 décembre 2006, https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/19/books/19monu.html (consulté le 24 juillet 2024).
D. Parker, 'Treasure Hunters in Uniform: “Monuments Men” Remembered', The New York Times [en ligne], 20 février 2013, https://archive.nytimes.com/atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/2/20/treasure-hunters-in-uniform-monuments-men-remembered/ (consulté le 24 juillet 2024).
E. Wilkins, 'Granger wants top honor for WWII art saviors', The Dallas Morning News [en ligne], 5 décembre 2013, https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2013/12/05/granger-wants-top-honor-for-wwii-art-saviors/ (consulté le 24 juillet 2024).
L. H. Nicholas, 'What the Monuments Men Wrought', The Wall Street Journal [en ligne], 28 janvier 2014, https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-the-monuments-men-wrought-1390948115 (consulté le 24 juillet 2024).
AP, '”Monuments Men” characters inspired by real people', The Times of Israel [en ligne], 6 février 2014, https://www.timesofisrael.com/monuments-men-characters-inspired-by-real-people/ (consulté le 24 juillet 2024).
M. Willett-Wei, 'These Incredible Works Of Art Were Saved By The Real-Life “Monuments Men” Of WWII', Business Insider [en ligne], 20 février 2014, https://www.businessinsider.com/monuments-men-famous-works-of-art-2014-2 (consulté le 24 juillet 2024).
AP, 'Appeals court revives case for Nazi-looted art', The Times of Israel [en ligne], 8 juin 2014, https://www.timesofisrael.com/appeals-court-revives-case-for-nazi-looted-art/ (consulté le 24 juillet 2024).
R. M. Edsel, 'The paintings behind the Monuments Men cover', Robert Edsel [en ligne], 18 juin 2014, https://www.robertedsel.com/post/2014/6/18/the-paintings-behind-the-monuments-men-cover (consulté le 29 janvier 2024).
C. Ayala, 'Foundation dedicated to WWII Monuments Men will close after Congressional Gold Medal ceremony', The Dallas Morning News [en ligne], 20 octobre 2015, https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2015/10/21/foundation-dedicated-to-wwii-monuments-men-will-close-after-congressional-gold-medal-ceremony/ (consulté le 24 juillet 2024).
C. Ayala, 'WWII Monuments Men honored with Congressional Gold Medal', The Dallas Morning News [en ligne], 22 octobre 2015, https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2015/10/22/wwii-monuments-men-honored-with-congressional-gold-medal/ (consulté le 24 juillet 2024).
JTA, 'Paris court orders return of Nazi-looted painting to relatives of art collector', Jewish News [en ligne], 14 novembre 2017, https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/paris-court-orders-return-of-nazi-looted-painting-to-relatives-of-art-collector/ (consulté le 24 juillet 2024).
Anonyme, 'France returns paintings to heirs of Jewish couple who fled Nazis', Jewish News [en ligne], 15 février 2018, https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/france-returns-paintings-to-heirs-of-jewish-couple-who-fled-nazis/ (consulté le 24 juillet 2024).
S. E. Eizenstat, 'Art stolen by the Nazis is still missing. Here’s how we can recover it.', The Washington Post [en ligne], 2 janvier 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/no-one-should-trade-in-or-possess-art-stolen-by-the-nazis/2019/1/2/1990232-0ed3-11e9-831f-3aa2c2be4cbd_story.html (consulté le 24 juillet 2024).
'Letters to the Editor', 'European governments must participate with returning Nazi-taken art', The Washington Post [en ligne], 6 janvier 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/european-governments-must-participate-with-returning-nazi-taken-art/2019/1/06/391bffe0-106b-11e9-8f0c-6f878a26288a_story.html (consulté le 24 juillet 2024).
C. Hickley, 'European Parliament calls for restitution overhaul', The Art Newspaper [en ligne], 20 février 2019, https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2019/2/20/european-parliament-calls-for-restitution-overhaul (consulté le 24 juillet 2014).
N. Rea, 'The French Government Is Launching a Task Force Dedicated to Researching and Returning Nazi-Era Loot From Its National Collections', artnet [en ligne], 29 mars 2019, https://news.artnet.com/art-world/france-research-restitution-nazi-looted-art-1504219 (consulté le 24 juillet 2024).
P. Schwartz, 'Diary of WWII’s Monuments Man given to US National Archives', The Times of Israel [en ligne], 1er mai 2019, https://www.timesofisrael.com/diary-of-wwiis-monuments-man-given-to-national-archives/ (consulté le 24 juillet 2024).
R. Blumenthal, T. Mashberg, 'The Army Is Looking for a Few Good Art Experts', The New York Times [en ligne], 21 octobre 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/21/arts/design/new-monuments-men.html (consulté le 24 juillet 2024).
M. Bridge, 'Britain’s Monuments Men took a dim view of American colleagues', The Times [en ligne], 18 novembre 2020, https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/britains-monuments-men-took-a-dim-view-of-american-colleagues-in-cultural-rescue-qg29hntjv (consulté le 24 juillet 2024).
C. Liphshiz, 'Dutch government criticises own Shoah restitution policy', Jewish News [en ligne], 13 décembre 2020, https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/dutch-government-criticises-own-shoah-restitution-policy/ (consulté le 24 juillet 2024).
C. Porterfield, 'Most countries have made “little or no progress” in returning Nazi-looted art, report finds', CNN Style [en ligne], 6 mars 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/3/06/style/nazi-looted-art-report-wjro-tan/index.html (consulté le 24 juillet 2024).



Further Details

NICOLAS DE LARGILLIERRE (1656-1746), PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN, HALF-LENGTH, OIL ON CANVAS

There are some works of art whose importance goes beyond their mere aesthetic quality because of the place they hold in a wider history. The present painting by Nicolas de Largillierre (1656-1746) is one such work. Its image is familiar to us because it appears in a photograph that has been reproduced an uncountable number of times (fig. 1), immortalising the immense mission undertaken by the Monuments Men - an organisation that brought together curators, art historians, architects and archivists under the aegis of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives programme – who were tasked with finding the many works of art looted under the Third Reich throughout Europe.

As part of this mission, on 28 April 1945, in the closing days of the War, the Monuments Men reached Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. This was the hiding place for more than 5,000 paintings and 20,000 objects stolen by the Nazi regime. These included Largillierre’s now famous portrait, held up in this historic photograph by soldier Anthony ‘Tony’ Terra Valim (1919-2009) with undisguised joy, under the watchful eye of Lieutenant James Rorimer (1905-1966), future director of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The years of the Third Reich saw organised theft on an unprecedented scale in Europe. The Nazis wanted to build private collections to rival the established Western museums. While some European public collections crumbled under the violence and speed of their invasions, France, with the help of the brilliant Louvre curator Jacques Jaujard (1895-1967), escaped the looting of its public collections by hiding its masterpieces in remote châteaux and abbeys. However, private collections were not spared. Works belonging to gallery owners, antique dealers and the great French families whose Jewish origins made them targets were all under threat. Whilst some hid some of their works in advance, most had to abandon them all in an attempt to save their lives. The names of gallery owners such as Seligman (1893-1978), Bacri (1911-1965) and Fabius (1908-1984) are sadly inseparable from those shameful years for France.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
21.11.2024 – 21.11.2024
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
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