This painting " The vanity" is a pair to the previous item no. 4079, " The modesty" by the same author and both works are sold exclusively together!Both works were purchased through the sale by one of prominent U.S. auction houses from the collection of famous in 1980s Dallas mayor Starke Taylor and his wife Carolyn (full info about collector see in on-line wikipedia). The buyer will recieve certificate of authenticy with full evidence of the provenance.

Both paintings were executed in 1830 by French female artist Aimee Brune-Pages (1803 - Paris - 1866) and were exhibited by the author in the Salon de Paris in 1830 (exhibit no. 1387 and 1388). Aimee Brune-Pages was a pupil of Charles Meynier and debuted in Paris Salon in 1822 with "Psyche enleve par Zephir". In 1831 she was awarded a second class medal of the Salon and, in 1841 - a first class medal.In 1833 she married Parisian artist Christian Brune (1793-1849) and since this date signed with her double name - Brune Pages. She painted portraits, genre and historical paintings in academical style.

We found a gravure by Alexandre Vincent Sixdeniers (1795-1846) after our painting ( see our additional image).

Today, works of Aimee Brune-Pages belong to museum collections of Aix-en-Provence, Ales, Bordeaux, Le Puy, Orleans, Troyes, Versailles, Louvre.

Here is the quotation from Wendelin Guenther´s book "Women Art Critics in Nineteenth-Century France: Vanishing Acts", University of Delaware Press, 2013 (see books.google.at):"…

Anne Brune (née Pages) was probably one of the most successful and respected woman artists of the time: her practice was varied, ranging from history painting and genre scenes to portraiture. She is mostly forgotten today, her artwork buried in French museums and her portraits appearing only occasionally on the European art market. However, one measure of her success was the fact that her paintings were engraved to be widely distributed as was, for instance, her "Leonardo poignant la Joconde" (1845), which was engraved by Charles Lemoine. She was also the recipient of commissions, and in 1837 she delivered for Versailles a copy of the 1729 "Portrait of Marie-Anne de Bourbon-Condé (dite Medemoiselle de Clermont)" by Jean Marc Nattier… Once again Madame Brune is singled out for the craze that her portraits created. Women gathered around her portraits in great numbers at the Salon because her talent brought her a flock of new clients…".

Provenance: Jacques Robiquet, France; Sweitzer gallery, New York; private collection, Dallas, acquired from the above, 1978; collection of Carolyn and Starke Taylor, Dallas.

The buyer will recieve a portfolio of original documents concerning the provenance of all previous mentioned owners.

Literature: E. Benezit " Dictionary of painters, sculptors, decorators and etchers"(in French), Paris, 1999; Thieme/Becker, Leipzig,1999; Wendelin Guenther " Women Art Critics in Nineteenth-Century France: Vanishing Acts", University of Delaware Press, 2013.

Inscription: signed and dated lower left: A.Pages, 1830; signed, dated and titled on stretcher: Mlle A.Pages (Le Sommeil)/(Salon de 1830).

Technique: oil on canvas, luxuriousy original period gold-plated frame.

Measurements: unframed w 19 1/4" x h 15 1/2" ( 49 x 39,5 cm), framed w 27 x h 23 1/4" (68,5 x 59 cm).

Condition: very good original condition, no inpaintings, original canvas.