A Concert in an Italianate Garden. Fine oil painting on canvas of a young woman singing in a garden setting surrounded by musicians. Unsigned. French, 18th century
Image 57 x 83.5 cm (22.5 x 32.75 inches), frame 69.5 x 95.5 cm (27.5 x 37.75 inches)
The singer holds an open book of music in her right hand from which she is singing. The accompanying musicians include another woman playing a keyboard instrument; a bass viol player; a transverse flute player; a recorder player; and a violinist. A young girl standing next to the singer holds open a large scroll of music to which the singer points with her left hand.
The artist appears to be drawing our attention to a particular composition and perhaps to the composer, who may be the woman at the keyboard. She seems to attract the greatest attention from the other accompanying musicians and is certainly at the heart of the music-making. The artist portrays the three women (the singer, the young girl holding the music, and the woman at the keyboard) in detail, with a radiance not evident in the rendering of the other musicians, suggesting a depiction of three music-loving sisters or family members.
Provenance
Christie's South Kensington, London, sale of Old Master Pictures, 23 April 2004, lot 195
Minor superficial scratch to central area; the canvas apparently relined and mounted on a new wooden stretcher, possibly mid-20th century; gallery number VK910 to verso of wooden stretcher. In very good condition overall. Nicolas Vleughels, friend of important French painter Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), was a notable painter active in France and Italy in the late 17th and first third of the 18th century. He spent considerable time in Rome, where he became director of the l'Academie de France (1724-37); many of his paintings demonstrate the influence of the Roman style.
The singer holds an open book of music in her right hand from which she is singing. The accompanying musicians include another woman playing a keyboard instrument; a bass viol player; a transverse flute player; a recorder player; and a violinist. A young girl standing next to the singer holds open a large scroll of music to which the singer points with her left hand.
The artist appears to be drawing our attention to a particular composition and perhaps to the composer, who may be the woman at the keyboard. She seems to attract the greatest attention from the other accompanying musicians and is certainly at the heart of the music-making. The artist portrays the three women (the singer, the young girl holding the music, and the woman at the keyboard) in detail, with a radiance not evident in the rendering of the other musicians, suggesting a depiction of three music-loving sisters or family members.
Provenance
Christie's South Kensington, London, sale of Old Master Pictures, 23 April 2004, lot 195
Minor superficial scratch to central area; the canvas apparently relined and mounted on a new wooden stretcher, possibly mid-20th century; gallery number VK910 to verso of wooden stretcher. In very good condition overall. Nicolas Vleughels, friend of important French painter Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), was a notable painter active in France and Italy in the late 17th and first third of the 18th century. He spent considerable time in Rome, where he became director of the l'Academie de France (1724-37); many of his paintings demonstrate the influence of the Roman style.