Lot 223: Eva Gonzáles , 1849-1883 EN BATEAU oil on canvas

Painted circa 1875-76. stamped Eva Gonzáles (lower right) oil on canvas

46.5 by 55cm., 18 1/4 by 21 5/8 in.

Paris, Salons de la Vie Moderne, Eva Gonzalès, 1885, no. 54
Vienna, Die Sezession, Die Kunst der Frau, 1910, no. 97
Paris, Bernheim-Jeune, Eva Gonzalès, 1914, no. 9
Monaco, Le Sporting, Eva Gonzalès, 1952, no. 15 (titled La barque)

Louis Hautecoeur, 'Exposition Eva Gonzalès' in La Chronique des arts et de la curiosité, no. 15, 11th April 1914, p. 115
Louis Dimier, 'Chronique des arts' in L'Action Française, 12th April 1914, p. 4
François Monod, 'L'Impressionnisme féminin' in Art et Décoration, supplement, May 1914, p. 3
Paule Bayle, 'Eva Gonzalès' in La Renaissance, June 1932, illustrated p. 110
Marie-Caroline Sainsaulieu & Jacques de Mons, Eva Gonzalès, 1849-1883, Étude critique et catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1990, no. 74, illustrated p. 173

Estate of the artist (sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Vente Eva Gonzalès, 20th February 1885, lot 50)
Jeanne Guérard-Gonzalès, Paris (acquired circa 1910)
Jeanne-Raymond Guérard, Paris
Private Collection, Paris
Acquired from the above by the family of the present owner circa 1985

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, SPAIN
Edouard Manet's only student, Eva Gonzáles was one of a select group of important female painters from the Impressionist period. She first received critical acclaim at the Paris Salon of 1870 where she exhibited three paintings and was the subject of a fourth: Portrait d'Eva Gonzáles by Manet himself (fig. 1). Gonzáles's style shares many elements characteristic of the Impressionists and she is considered part of the movement in accordance with both her talent as an artist and Manet's high regard for her oeuvre. As an artist Gonzáles certainly warrants comparison with her female companions Morisot and Cassatt. Following her death during childbirth in 1883, a large retrospective of 88 works was held at the Salons de la Vie Moderne in Paris. The present work was included in that major exhibition. As a composition En bateau is a wonderful example of Impressionist painting. The centre is naturalistic in feel and highly focused on the nuances of the lady fishing in profile to the artist. However, as a whole the composition is intentionally transient, with spontaneous brushstrokes to the edges of the picture plane serving to focus the viewer on the subject. This is both a highly efficient method of encouraging the viewer into the work and a delightful example of Gonzáles's sureness of touch that places her amongst the most progressive female painters of her generation. Fig., 1, Edouard Manet, Le Portrait d'Eva Gonzàles, 1870, National Gallery, London