March 4th 1998, The painting was first estimated at 50,000 FF (US $ 8,200) the morning of the sale before Eric Turquin, an expert for old masters, had a look at it and determined it was a lost work by Fragonard. Its last trace was in November 1776 when it was sold in Paris at the Verrier sale. The amount of money paid for this painting which needs extensive restoration in its inferior part almost equalled the world record price of 8,2 million francs established for a Fragonard work (two young women playing with a small dog on a bed) in a sale conducted by Jacques Tajan on December 12th 1995. The painting was bought by Paris dealer Guy Ladrière probably acting on behalf of Daniel Wildenstein who is a keen collector of Fragonard's works. Funnily, when told of the importance of the work its owner gave auctioneer Joel Millon the go-ahead to sell it right away instead of including it in a catalogued sale. Specialists here said that if the painting had been offered for sale in a prestigious sale it might have not reached such high price because of its poor condition. Many Paris Sales conducted without catalogues are in fact full of surprises. A few years ago, a painting representing Saint Jerome, merely estimated at US $ 1,500 was swiftly withdrawn from a sale when it was discovered that it was a genuine work by Georges de la Tour. It eventually fetched US $ 1,650
Home
