Thérèse Reading in the Park at Méric

1867
Huile sur toile
93 x 60 cm - 36 5/8 x 23 5/8 in.
Signé en bas à gauche : F. Bazille
Annotation : au dos : Thérèse, Méric, F. B.
Collection particulière
Dernière mise à jour : 2022-03-13 15:21:39
Référence : MSb-83

History

Thérèse des Hours - Henry Cazalis - Galerie Eugène Blot, Paris, 1923 - Collection Ernst Hornasch, Munich - Collection particulière - Vente Sotheby's, New York, 17 mai 2017, n° 196 - Vente Sotheby's, New York, 15 mai 2019, n° 374 - Collection particulière.

Exhibitions

As far as we know, never exhibited

Bibliography

Schulman, Frédéric Bazille : Catalogue raisonné - Supplément 2, 2016, n° 5, pp. 10-11, repr. p. 10 - Schulman, Frédéric Bazille : Catalogue raisonné numérique, 2022, n° 83.

Today the same alley at Méric with the doorway

Blue slip of the gallery Blot May 2§, 1923

The theme addressed here perfectly characterizes Bazille's personality and his closeness to his family and to Méric, the family Summer home. His close relationship with his family first of all, as his correspondence proves. He paints his cousin Thérèse who also appears in The Family Gathering. François Daulte accurately describes the family environment and the scene of daily life in Méric: "Wonderful cousins! Just a few years ago, they shared the games and dreams of Frederic in the big park. And now they charm his eyes [...] They wander in the cool of the morning or the warmth of the evening, free and protected at the same time under the pine trees of the terraces, where the echoes keep their laughter. Or sitting at the foot of a favorite tree, the one that opens up the most horizon and covers them the most, they read or talk or embroider" [Daulte, 1992, p. 28]. Daulte sets the scene of our painting well, the place and the characters. Given to his cousin Thérèse, the painting was then acquired by General Henry Cazalis, husband of Henriette Blanche Auriol, younger daughter of Thérèse des Hours, Bazille's cousin. It was then bought on May 16, 1923 by the Blot Gallery and remained in a Swiss collection until today. The painting was once relined and has now been restored to its original canvas. The cracks and the signature inserted in the material leave no doubt about its attribution.

His original story makes this an engaging painting that adds to the known corpus of Bazille's work.