Henry Bonnefoy

Hall in the Barye Exposition of 1889

1888

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Henry Bonnefoy

Hall in the Barye Exposition of 1889

1888

Physical Qualities Oil on canvas, 23-1/2 x 28-3/4 in. (59.7 x 73.1 cm.); Frame: 33-1/4 x 38-3/4 x 3-1/4 in. (84.5 x 98.5 x 8.3 cm.)

Credit Line The George A. Lucas Collection, purchased with funds from the State of Maryland, Laurence and Stella Bendann Fund, and contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations throughout the Baltimore community

Object Number 1996.45.27

This composition records a view of the comprehensive Barye exhibition held at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1889. The purpose of the undertaking, of which Lucas was a major participant, was to raise funds for a monument on the Île Saint-Louis in the heart of the city to honor Barye. Included, in addition to the sculptor’s bronzes, were terra cotta, plaster, and wax models, among them a work entitled Order, one of four allegorical groups originally designed for the façade of the Louvre. Bronze casts of these four sculptures as well as of the large Seated Lion, also visible in the painting, may be seen in Baltimore’s Mount Vernon Place, given by William T. Walters as gifts to the city in 1885. A similar exhibition, augmented with paintings by a number of Barye’s contemporaries and friends, took place in New York at the American Art Galleries from November 15, 1889 to January 15, 1890.

The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 1996; The Maryland Institute College of Art,
through Henry Walters, Baltimore, by bequest 1909; from George A. Lucas, Paris

The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The George A. Lucas Collection of the Maryland Institute", October 12-November 21, 1965.

The Baltimore Museum of Art, Downtown Gallery, "Selections from the Lucas Collection", July 21-August 22, 1975.

The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, "A Baltimorean in Paris: George A. Lucas, Art Agent 1860-1909", January 28-March 11, 1979.

Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL, "Paris in the Belle Epoque: People and Places", March 1-April 6, 1980.

The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Parallels and Precedents: The George A. Lucas Collection in Context", August 23-October 15, 1995.

The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The George A. Lucas Collection: Maryland's Treasure", circulated to Government House, Annapolis, January 6-April 21, 1997.

Sona Johnston, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A View Toward Paris: The Lucas Collection of 19th-Century French Art", October 1-December 31, 2006.

"The George A. Lucas Collection of the Maryland Institute," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1965, cat. #

Inscribed: FACE: BL, signed and dated, (brown paint), 'Henry Bonnefoy/89'. VERSO, FRAME: UL corner, BMA label nailed; UL, (label), 'BMA cat./1965/#27'; UC to UR, (handwritten in black), '...02# #207'; UR, (label), 'LOAN/208.47'; RC sideways, (masking tape, handwritten), '602'; CL, remainder of Succession G.A. Lucas label, only part left '14 Rue...No 4'