Woman at the Piano

Provenance

Paul-Victor Poupin, Paris, by Apr. 1876 [per Catalogue de la 2e exposition de peinture, exh. cat. (Alcan-Lévy, 1876), p. 21, cat. 219, which lists Femme au piano as “appartient à M. Poupin”]. Possibly Durand-Ruel, Paris, by Apr. 1883 [per exhibition catalogue, cat. 13 is listed as Femme au piano with an asking price of £100, however Durand-Ruel Archives cannot confirm that the Art Institute’s painting was the one exhibited in London in April–July 1883; Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago: “Il est possible qu’il s’agisse du même tableau mais nous n’avons aucun document nous le prouvant”]. Sold (possibly by the artist) to Durand-Ruel, Paris, Sept. 8, 1886, for 1,200 francs [per Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1884–90 (no. 1200, as La Femme au piano), as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file]. Possibly sold at Moore’s Art Galleries, New York, May 6, 1887, lot 93, for $675 [per Dauberville and Dauberville 2007. See also Moore’s Art Galleries, New York, The Durand-Ruel Collection of French Paintings, sale cat. (Moore’s Art Galleries, May 5–6, 1887), p. 28, lot 93. However, according to the Durand-Ruel Archives, “Le tableau n’a pas été vendu en 1887 lors de la vente à la ‘Moore’s Art Galleries’: il s’agissait d’une vente fictive (aucun tableau n’a été vendu) destinée à faire de la publicité pour les tableaux apportés par Durand-Ruel à New York.” See Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file]. Durand-Ruel, New York, by Dec. 16, 1911. [per Durand-Ruel, New York, stock book for 1888–93 (no. 112, as Jeune femme au piano), as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file]; sold to Martin A. Ryerson (d. 1932), Chicago, Dec. 16, 1911, for $16,000. [per Durand-Ruel, New York, stock book for 1888–93 (no. 112, as Jeune femme au piano), as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file]; by descent to his wife Carrie Hutchinson Ryerson (1859–1937), Chicago, 1932 [Last Will and Testament of Martin A. Ryerson, Died August 11, 1932, copy in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago]; bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1937.

Official Citations