Page 127 - Christie's, Important Chinese Works of Art December 2, 2015 HK

THE PROPERTY OF AN AMERICAN GENTLEMAN 㫦嬀烉Hubert Vos 1910

3129 伶⚳Ṇ⇑㟹恋ⶆ䥩Ṣ㓞啷
Adamson-Duvannes喅⹲炻㳃㛱䢗炻2010⸜
HUBERT VOS (1855-1935)
⶜湶㱁漵炻1912⸜
HARMONIE 䲸䲬Fischer Galleries炻1913⸜2㚰-3㚰

Signed ‘Hubert Vos’; dated ‘1910’ (lower right) ˪The International Studios˫炻 䫔49㛇炻 1913⸜
oil on canvas John Seed炻ˬHubert Vos: Court Painter of Empress Dowager
Painted in 1910 Cixi˭炻˪Arts of Asia˫炻 2015⸜ᶨ㚰/Ḵ㚰炻⚾8
72 x 44 º in. (182.9 x 112.4 cm.) framed
㬌䔓ἄ䓙伶䯵匟嗕塼䔓⭞傉⌂炽厗⢓➟䫮炻䔓ᷕ㚱ℑ⣏⃫
HK$300,000-500,000 US$39,000-65,000 䳈炻㎕䣢厗⢓冯怈⛐ᷕ⚳䘬ヰ䥏⣒⎶䘬ᶨ㭝Ṍねˤ

PROVENANCE 㱡䔓㥳⚾䔓ᷕ㚱䔓炻ⶎ怲大㲳㛐㩫ᶲ㕡㍃叿ᶨⷭ⚾⁷炻⚾⁷
ᷕ㚱⤛⫸幓䨧㺧Ṣ㚵梦炻➟㇯䪗⛸㢭ᶲ炻ᶲ㚱㍃⯷㚠ˬ⣏㶭
A private collection, Arizona ⚳ヰ䥏䘯⣒⎶˭ˤ㬌ヰ䥏倾⁷⮎晃㗗厗⢓⎎ᶨⷭ䔓ἄ䘬墯
Adamson-Duvannes Galleries, Los Angeles, 2010 墥⑩炻℞⍇ἄ溶溶㚱⎵炻䎦啷⑰ἃ⣏⬠䤷㟤伶埻棐ˤ厗⢓㕤
1905 ⸜䌚㶭⺟怨婳姒厗炻䁢ヰ䥏⣒⎶䔓⁷炻᷎ㆸ䁢䫔ᶨ⎵䌚
EXHIBITED 㬌㨇忯ᷳ大㕡䓟䔓ⷓˤ忚ℍ䳓䤩❶⼴炻厗⢓ℙ䌚⚃㫉㨇㚫䎦
⟜䁢ヰ䥏䔓⁷ˤ℞ἄ⑩⮯ヰ䥏㍷丒⼿㭼⮎晃⸜漉⸜庽炻㶙⍿
Paris Salon, 1912 ⣒⎶╄ッ炻塓⬱㌺伖㕤柌␴⚺㌺暚㭧ℏ炻᷎ᶨ䚜ᾅ⬀军Ṳˤ
Fischer Gallery, New York, February-March, 1913 厗⢓㕤1906⸜⚆伶⚳⼴炻丒䔓Ḯ⎎ᶨⷭヰ䥏倾⁷炻塷朊䘬ヰ
䥏㖶栗冯℞⸜漉庫䚠䧙炻䤆ねṎ㚜倭⍚炻⎗婒㗗⍵㗈Ḯヰ䥏
LITERATURE ⛐厗⢓䛤ᷕ䘬⮎岒⼊尉ˤ㬌䔓⁷⼴Ἦ塓䲵ℍ⑰ἃ⣏⬠䍵啷炻
厗⢓᷎⮯℞墯墥军㛔㱡䔓ᶲˤ
The International Studios, Vol. 49, 1913
John Seed, ‘Hubert Vos: Court Painter of Empress Dowager Cixi’, 㬌㱡䔓⎎ᶨ慵天⃫䳈䁢⻰䏜⤛⫸側⼴䘬ⶐ⼊㍃ⷭˤ㬌㍃ⷭ䁢
Arts of Asia, Jan/Feb 2015, fig. 8 ヰ䥏⣒⎶復Ḱ傉⌂炽厗⢓䘬岰䥖ᷳᶨˤ㒂姀庱炻厗⢓䁢ヰ䥏
⬴ㆸ倾⁷⼴䌚岄⣏慷岰䥖炻⊭㊔ᶨ叔ᶱ⋫㲘≺戨⍲⎬⺷䒟
This large oil painting, which depicts an interior setting, very likely ☐ˣ䌱☐ˣ㯜㘞䫱ˤ℞ᷕ厗⢓㚨䁢䍵慵㬌䌐ᶨ䃉Ḵ䘬⇢三炻
of the artist’s own home in Newport, Rhode, Island, contains two ᶨ䚜㍃⛐℞伶⚳⭞᷎ᷕ㳩⁛ᶱẋˤ㬌㍃ⷭ⇢三ˬ悕⫸₨ㄞ⢥
elements which are indicative of the amiable relationship between ⚾˭炻㚦㕤2015⸜6㚰3㖍㕤楁㷗Ἓ⢓⼿㉵岋炻㉵⑩3163嘇ˤ
the Dutch-American portrait painter Hubert Vos and the Empress
Dowager Cixi in Qing China.

The first element, unmistakably, is the small portrait of a seated lady
dressed in Manchu attire, depicted on the left side of the painting
just above the cabinet. This small portrait is an identical replica of a
famous portrait also painted by Vos, now in the collection of the Fogg
Art Museum at Harvard University. The subject in the portrait is the
Empress Dowager Cixi, who invited Vos to visit China in 1905 to create
portraits for her, earning him his place as the first male Westerner to
be awarded the commission. In Beijing, Vos created a portrait which
portrays the Empress Dowager at a significantly younger age, and
appeared to have won her approval, since it was later displayed at
Cixi’s favourite garden, the Yiheyuan, and had remained there until
today. What the Empress Dowager did not expect was that, when Vos
returned to the United States in 1906, he created another portrait of
her, depicting her with a much sterner expression and facial features
more consistent with her real age. This portrait later entered the
collection of the Fogg Art Museum, and was again recreated by Vos in
this current oil painting.

The second element is the large apricot-ground embroidered
tapestry hung on the wall in the painting. This tapestry was part of
the numerous gifts lavishly bestowed by Cixi on Vos in return for his
portrait of her. It is known that Vos treasured this embroidery dearly,
which was hung in his family homes, first in New York city and later
Newport for three generations. Incidentally, this tapestry was offered
for auction at Christie’s Hong Kong, 3 June 2015, lot 3163.

This remarkable painting is a visual reminder of Vos’s fond memories
of his experience at the Qing Imperial court, as well as his deep
appreciation for the generous departure gifts awarded to him by the
Empress Dowager.

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