Marie Félix Hippolyte-Lucas Salomé avec la tête de saint Jean-Baptiste
Marie Félix Hippolyte-Lucas
French
1854 - 1925
Salomé avec la tête de saint Jean-Baptiste
signed F- Hippolyte-Lucas (lower right)
oil on canvas
canvas: 77 by 38 1/4 in.; 195.5 by 97 cm
framed: 82 1/4 by 43 3/4 in.; 209 by 111 cm
Condition Report:
The canvas is wax lined. The paint surface is stable and in good condition. Minor scuffs and scratches in places. Patterns of craquelure particularly to Salome's legs. Brown tape covering the edges and light frame abrasions. Under UV light, several areas of retouching to the background, notably at upper left and right, center left, and lower left; to Salome's face, feet, and around the lower half of her body; uneven varnish fluoresces green.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note:
The ghostly severed head of St. John the Baptist glows on a gleaming platter in the lower left corner of this monumental portrait of Salome, smiling and standing nearly nude in orientalized dress. Though Salome is not named in the New Testament, she has appeared time and time again in art and literature over the centuries, as both an innocent and a seductress. Her mother, Herodias, resented John the Baptist, who denounced her marriage to King Herod as unlawful. At one evening meal, Salome danced for King Herod and his guests. He was so entranced by her, that he swore to give her whatever she asked of him. At her mother's request, she demanded the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Hippolyte-Lucas portrays her here in the role of the remorseless seductress, standing proudly next to the severed head of her mother's enemy.
Born in 1854 in Rochefort-sur-Mer, Marie Felix Hippolyte-Lucas studied under the great French Academic painters Isidore Pils, Karl Lehmann and Évariste Luminais. He became primarily known as a figure and portrait painter, and his oeuvre is filled with bright portraits of aristocratic women. He began exhibiting at the Paris Salon in 1877 and continued to do so until the year before his death, early numerous award over the years. Also a celebrated muralist, he composed decorative paintings for the casino in Monte Carlo, the conference centre at the Musée Océanographique in Monaco, the Paris Stock Exchange and three ceilings in the Préfecture du Rhône.
Provenance:
Stuart Pivar, New York
Sale: Doyle, New York, 14 May 2019, lot 1007
View it on
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
Marie Félix Hippolyte-Lucas
French
1854 - 1925
Salomé avec la tête de saint Jean-Baptiste
signed F- Hippolyte-Lucas (lower right)
oil on canvas
canvas: 77 by 38 1/4 in.; 195.5 by 97 cm
framed: 82 1/4 by 43 3/4 in.; 209 by 111 cm
Condition Report:
The canvas is wax lined. The paint surface is stable and in good condition. Minor scuffs and scratches in places. Patterns of craquelure particularly to Salome's legs. Brown tape covering the edges and light frame abrasions. Under UV light, several areas of retouching to the background, notably at upper left and right, center left, and lower left; to Salome's face, feet, and around the lower half of her body; uneven varnish fluoresces green.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note:
The ghostly severed head of St. John the Baptist glows on a gleaming platter in the lower left corner of this monumental portrait of Salome, smiling and standing nearly nude in orientalized dress. Though Salome is not named in the New Testament, she has appeared time and time again in art and literature over the centuries, as both an innocent and a seductress. Her mother, Herodias, resented John the Baptist, who denounced her marriage to King Herod as unlawful. At one evening meal, Salome danced for King Herod and his guests. He was so entranced by her, that he swore to give her whatever she asked of him. At her mother's request, she demanded the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Hippolyte-Lucas portrays her here in the role of the remorseless seductress, standing proudly next to the severed head of her mother's enemy.
Born in 1854 in Rochefort-sur-Mer, Marie Felix Hippolyte-Lucas studied under the great French Academic painters Isidore Pils, Karl Lehmann and Évariste Luminais. He became primarily known as a figure and portrait painter, and his oeuvre is filled with bright portraits of aristocratic women. He began exhibiting at the Paris Salon in 1877 and continued to do so until the year before his death, early numerous award over the years. Also a celebrated muralist, he composed decorative paintings for the casino in Monte Carlo, the conference centre at the Musée Océanographique in Monaco, the Paris Stock Exchange and three ceilings in the Préfecture du Rhône.
Provenance:
Stuart Pivar, New York
Sale: Doyle, New York, 14 May 2019, lot 1007
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
