Old Masters, British & European Paintings - 07 Mar 2018
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