FRAGONARD, Jean-Honoré (Grasse, 1732 – Paris, 1806) - La Petite Jardinière

About Auction

Live

GRAND MARCH AUCTION OF OLD MASTERS AND COLONI...

By Templum Fine Art Auctions

Mar 25, 2026

Set Reminder 2026-03-25 10:00:00 2026-03-25 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : GRAND MARCH AUCTION OF OLD MASTERS AND COLONIAL ART https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/templum-fine-art-auctions/grand-march-auction-of-old-masters-and-colonial-art-22766
AUCTION · 25 MARCH · 3:00 PM EXHIBITION OPEN FROM 13 MARCH Templum Fine Art Auctions info@templumauctions.com

View Full Catalog (931)

• Lot Description
  Oil on canvas, 98 × 85 cm. Signed and monogrammed on the right. Painted around the mid-18th century (ca. 1750–1760). Oval in format and shows signs of earlier restoration. Seated amidst a bucolic landscape, a young girl comfortably perched on a small slope picks a flower and places it in a wicker basket. Her attention seems directed elsewhere, as if witnessing a scene unfolding outside the frame. The girl, about five or six years old, is dressed like an adult in a French-style dress with a wide neckline, while a straw hat, tilted back, appears to surround her head like a halo. Somewhere between a cherub and a putto, the figure belongs to the world of idealized childhood that complements the gallant scenes of the Rococo period. This female figure likely had a small cherub or male child as a counterpart. The oval format also suggests that the painting was conceived as a decorative panel integrated into the ornamental program of a salon. The vibrant, warm colors of the dress are balanced by the softer, pastel hues of the surrounding vegetation, while the blue sky, dotted with white clouds, takes on a more decorative than atmospheric character. The composition is particularly harmonious: the leaning tree in the background echoes the girl's gentle swaying, and the rounded shape of her dress fits the oval frame. Provenance: Possibly a decorative element from the Hôtel de Mortemart-Rochechouart; Eugène Kraemer collection; sold, Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, May 5, 1913 (Mes Lair-Dubreuil and Baudoin), no. 23 (18th-century French School); anonymous sale, Paris, Palais Galliera, March 11, 1975 (Mes Ader, Picard and Tajan), no. 23 (Fragonard's studio, sold with its pendant); Galerie Cailleux, Paris; anonymous sale, Zurich, Galerie Koller, September 15, 1994, no. 38. Exhibitions: An Exhibition of French Painting, 1600–1800, Tokyo, Galerie Iida, June 7 – July 2, 1988, no. 28; Three Masters of French Rococo: Boucher, Fragonard, Lancret, Tokyo–Osaka–Hakodate–Yokohama, 1990, ...
• Shipping Info

  • To arrange the corresponding logistics, a prior inquiry must be made via email at admin@templumauctions.es.

• Buyer's Premium
  • 23.50 %