Lot 670: Jens Juel (Gamborg 1745-1802 Copenhagen)

Jens Juel (Gamborg 1745-1802 Copenhagen)
Portrait of Frederikke Maria Sophia Brockdorff, seated full-length, in a white dress, in a park landscape with her dog beside her
signed and dated 'Juel pinxit 1796' (upper left)
oil on canvas, unlined
106.7 x 121.9 cm.

Frederiksborg, Nationalhistoriske Museum, Hvis engle kunne male...Jens Juels Portratkunst, 08 June-20 October, 1996, no. 96, ill. 73.

Z. Andrup, Otto Andrup og livet omkring ham, Copenhagen, 1970, p. 129.
T. Crombie, 'Salutes to the Seicento', Apollo, May 1972, p. 402, illustrated.
E. Poulsen, Jens Juel, Copenhagen, 1991, I, p. 180, cat. 645 and II, p. 411, fig. 645.
Ch. Christensen, Hvis engle kunne male.. Jens Juels portratkunst, Frederiksborg, 1996, p. 91, fig. 73 and pp. 174-5, cat. 96.

Anonymous sale; Winkel and Magnussen, Copenhagen, 16 May 1942, lot 161, where acquired by Mr. Louis Foght.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 8 December 1971, lot 30.
with Leger, London, 1972.

THE PROPERTY OF THE LATE CAESAR AND RUTH PINNAU

Frederikke Maria Sophie Brockdorff was a member of an important noble family originating from the duchy of Holstein around the Danish-German border. She may have been the daughter of Cay Lorenz Brockdorff who was a member of the German Chancellery in Copenhagen when the picture was made.

Jens Juel should be considered one of the most important Danish painters of his time. He specialized mostly in portraits and was especially sought after in Danish noble circles. He depicted several members of the Danish royal family. His portraits both reflect the influence of contemporary French artists as well as that of British specialists like Gainsborough and Reynolds.