Countess Miari
label: RO (?) 26-01-80
label: «Galerie Georges Petit. Exposition des Cents Pastels/Carriera. Collection de M. Gangnat»
in chalk: E/24
by 1908 –
Maurice Gangnat (1856–1924), Paris, France [1]
Goldschmidt collection (Paul Goldschmidt ?), Paris, France [2]
Marquise de La Fressange, Paris, France, by inheritance [3]
Artibus SA, Geneva, Switzerland [4]
by 1979/11 – 1980/03/04
Heim Gallery Ltd. (François Heim and Andrew Ciechanowieki), London, UK [5]
1980/03/04 –
National Gallery of Canada, purchased from the Heim Gallery [6]
[1]Securely identified by thelabel on the verso [see above] the pastel was owned by Parisian steel magnate and art collector Maurice Gangnat who lent it to an exhibition at the Galerie Georges Petit [“Exposition de cent pastels du 18ième siècle.” Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, May/June 1908, cat. no. 6]. The dimensions given in the exhibition catalogue (70 x 56 cm) seem to be an error.
[2] In a letter dated Feb.19, 1980, Andrew Ciechanowiecki of Heim gallery informs NGC Research Curator Myron Laskin, Jr. that the pastel was in the Parisian Goldschmidt Collection around the turn of the century and later inherited by Goldschmidt's niece, the Marquise de la Fressange, in whose family it remained “until comparatively recently” [NGC curatorial file].
[3] See note [2].
[4] The Heim Gallery stock book notes Artibus SA, Geneva, as a former owner of the work. It does not specify, if the work was on consignment from Artibus, like the Celebrano (NGC no. 1575) and the The Christ Child by a 16th century unkown Swabian artist (NGC no. 15325)].
[5] Negotiations between the NGC and the Heim gallery about purchasing the pastel started in November 1979.
[6] Accession log [NGC curatorial file].