London Sales Preview: Christie's Old Masters & British

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Jean-Antoine Watteau, "La surprise" (ca. 1718)

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Jean Honore Fragonard Jean Antoine Watteau Ewan Gibbs in London Old Master Paintings Old Masters Reemerge for London Summer Sales Long-Lost Works Sell Big at Christie's London Sales Preview Long-Lost Watteau to Hit Block at Christie's

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Jean-Antoine Watteau
La surprise, circa 1718
Estimate £3–5 million ($6–10 million)
Christie’s Old Masters & British

La surprise, a long-lost work by Jean-Antoine Watteau, could set an auction record both for the artist and for an 18th-century French painting. The small panel depicts an actor from the Comédie-Italienne tuning his guitar while an amorous couple embraces nearby. It was discovered during a routine valuation in an English country house; the proprietor had no idea who had painted the picture. Originally owned by Nicolas Henin, an adviser to King Louis XV, La surprise probably left France after it was auctioned, in 1800, following the revolution. Christie’s experts knew of it through a 1731 engraving as well as from a copy in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace. In 1848 the original painting was documented in a probate valuation for Lady Murray, the widow of General Sir John Murray, after which it was passed down to the present anonymous owner by inheritance.

“There is nothing available of this quality and condition by Watteau,” says James Bruce-Gardyne, a director in Christie’s London Old Master department. “It compares with his Mezzetin, in the Met [in New York]. It’s a masterpiece.” And unlike many of Watteau’s paintings, with their delicate glazes, this one has not suffered from overcleaning.

The present record for Watteau is £2.4 million ($3.5 million), paid in December 2000 at Christie’s London for Le conteur, a similar work; the auction high for an 18th-century French painting is £5.3 million ($8.5 million), set by Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s Le verrou in December 1999, also at Christie’s.

"London Sales Preview" originally appeared in the June 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's June 2008 Table of Contents.