Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

Property of Various Owners
Lot 100

Marie François Firmin-Girard
(French, 1838-1921)
A well between two properties 30 1/4 x 40 3/4in (76.9 x 103.5cm)

Amended
27 April 2021, 10:00 PDT
Los Angeles

Sold for US$56,562.50 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our European Furniture and Works of Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

Marie François Firmin-Girard (French, 1838-1921)

A well between two properties
signed 'FIRMIN-GIRARD.' (lower right)
oil on canvas
30 1/4 x 40 3/4in (76.9 x 103.5cm)

Footnotes

PROVENANCE
Private collection, Southern California, since circa 1930's;
Thence by descent to the present owner.

Born in the village of Poncin, a French hamlet near the Swiss border, Marie-François Firmin-Girard (29 May 1838 – 8 January 1921) grew up surrounded by a rich and diverse enclave of landscapes. These surroundings inspired the young painter as he transitioned out of this rural village and into the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Mentored by artists such as Charles Gleyre and Jean-Léon Gérôme, Firmin-Girard was educated within a rare moment of political stability during the Second Empire -- allowing the arts to expand beyond political expectations. A new wave of Realists was generated and Firmin-Girard's acquaintance with the natural world deeply inspired his works.

Firmin-Girard began displaying at the Salon in 1859, gaining him commissions for works ranging from portraits to landscapes to genre scenes. A well between two properties explores a tranquil moment between two women at different periods in their lives. The picked and growing flowers enhance the vibrance of the scene, enclosing the women and the well into a world untouched by time and the reality of their lives. Firmin-Girard's style here teeters between Realism and Impressionism. The roses, hollyhocks, and geraniums surrounding the women are both distinct and abstract, emulating the artist's fluid sense of style and genre. The architecture of the well highlights this quality as well – the illusion of stone and brickwork give the viewer just enough detail to set the scene, while inviting the eye towards the two women. The coil of the young woman's dress mimics the growing hollyhocks behind her, creating unity and serenity in this 19th century composition.

Saleroom notices

Please note the following additional information:

Provenance
M. Knoedler & Co., New York;
Hersee Moody Carson, Los Angeles, 1935;
Hazel Forester Roberts, Los Angeles;
Private collection, Ventura, California;
Thence by descent to the present owner.

Exhibited
Paris, Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux Arts, 1890, no. 360.

We are grateful to Patrick Faucheur, great-grandson of Marie François Firmin-Girard, for confirming the authenticity of the present lot, which will be included in the forthcoming Firmin-Girard catalogue raisonné.
www.firmingirard.com

Additional information

Bid now on these items

Attributed to Giuseppe Angeli(Italian, 1712-1798)Sportsman Handing a Coin to a Woman with a Basket of Fruit and a Child by Her Side

German/Austrian School(18th Century)Der Vogelkäufer (The Bird Buyer)

Antonio Francesco Peruzzini(Italian, 1668-1724)A Mediterranean Landscape with Figures Boarding a Boat in Choppy Seas (a fragment)

Attributed to François de Troy(French, 1645-1730)Portrait of a Lady, Possibly Madame de Montespan, as Venus Disarming Cupid

Italian School(17th century)Portrait of Christopher Columbus

Circle of Andrea del Sarto(Italian, 1486-1530)Portrait of a Lady

Circle of Pieter Pourbus(Netherlands, 1524-1584)Portrait of a Nobleman, Three-Quarter Length, in Fur-Trimmed Black Robes

James Cranke(British, 1707-1780)Portrait of a Lady

After Sir Martin Shee(Irish, 1769-1850)Portrait of John Charles, Viscount Althorp, later 3rd Earl Spencer

School of Francis Cotes R.A.(British, 1726-1770)Portrait of a Gentleman in a Green Coat

Eduard Niczky(German, 1850-1919)Mother's Love

Attributed to John Cordrey(active England, circa 1765-1825)The Chester to London Coach

Jan van Chelminski(Polish, 1851-1925)Officers on a Snowy Road with Two Monks

Jules Girardet(French, 1856-1938)Prussian War

Paul Louis Narcisse Grolleron(French, 1848-1901)Troops Pausing on a Village Road in Winter

Antoine Blanchard(French, 1910-1988)Boulevard de la Madeleine, circa 1980

Emil Barbarini(Austrian, 1855-1930)Old England

August Friedrich Albrecht Schenck(Dutch, 1828-1901)Shepherd with His Flock in a Snowstorm

Eugène Verboeckhoven(Belgian, 1799-1881)Peasant with a Cow, Sheep, and Donkey

Eugène Verboeckhoven(Belgian, 1798-1881) and Johann Bernhard Klombeck (Dutch, 1815-1893)Herding by the Forest's Edge

Cesar de Cock(Belgian, 1823-1904)Cows and a Figure Beneath the Trees

Filippo Palizzi(Italian, 1818-1899)A Wooded Landscape with a Figure and Goats

Alfred Pollentine(British, 1836-1890)The Grand Canal

Alfred Vickers Sr.(British, 1786-1868)A Cliffside View