Thomas Couture (French 1815-1879) Study for 'The Thorny Path' Signed with initials Oil on canvas...

Thomas Couture (French 1815-1879)

Study for 'The Thorny Path'

Signed with initials

Oil on canvas

29 x 41cm; 11½ x 16in

Provenance:

Possibly the artist's family.

with Shepherd Gallery, New York.

Sotheby's, New York, 29th October 1987, Lot 64

Christie's, New York, 26th October 2005, Lot 149

Exhibited:

Paris, Palais de l'Industrie, Catalogue des oeuvres de Thomas Couture esposés au Palais de l'Industrie, 1880, probably no. 112 or 113.

Couture's Thorny Path of 1873 was commissioned by Henry C. Gibson and is now at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The painting, for which this is a study, is a satire of decadent French Society, with a courtesan driving her carriage pulled by four male captives representing youth, riches, courage and poetry. The figure at the rear with the wine bottle pre-shadows her future