The Kimbell Artwork Museum has acquired The Lower Melon (1760), a nonetheless life by Jean Siméon Chardin, from the Rothschild household, after an public sale sale final yr in Paris fell by means of. The work went on view on the Fort Value, Texas establishment on 22 Might within the gallery dedicated to French nonetheless lifes from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries.
“The Lower Melon is without doubt one of the nice masterpieces of 18th-century French portray,” says the Kimbell’s director Eric Lee, who negotiated the cope with the Rothschild household, including: “It’s no secret that now we have lengthy hoped for a fantastic Chardin nonetheless life for the Kimbell.”
The portray was offered at public sale by Christie’s in Paris in June 2024 for a file €26.7m, the very best worth ever obtained for a French 18th-century portray and the most costly Previous Grasp work ever offered in France, the corporate boasted on the time. Sadly the profitable bidder, an Italian actual property promoter primarily based in Saint Moritz, Switzerland named Nanni Bassani Antivari, by no means paid a cent. Christie’s sued him in Paris, asking for compensation of €195,000.
The Rothschild household took the panel again and offered it on to the Kimbell, leaving the public sale home apart. The worth tag has not been disclosed, however The Artwork Newspaper understands it’s considerably decrease than the Christie’s hammer worth of €23m, however rather more than the public sale home’s estimate of €8m to €12m.
The Kimbell was the underbidder on the public sale, and its failure to take house the work was its second such disappointment over a Chardin portray. Only one yr earlier than, at Artcurial, the museum was the profitable bidder for a distinct nonetheless lifetime of the identical interval by Chardin, displaying a platter of untamed strawberries. Nevertheless, its export was blocked and the work was bought by the Musée du Louvre for a staggering €24.3m due to a wide-ranging crowdfunding marketing campaign.
The Lower Melon, which has stored its authentic body since its exhibition on the Royal Academy’s Salon in 1761, comes from legendary collections. It shaped a pair with a portray of a jar of apricots in brandy, acquired by the Artwork Gallery of Ontario in Toronto in 1962. Each compositions share a uncommon oval form. The pair was bought by King Louis XV’s goldsmith Jacques Roëttiers, earlier than becoming a member of the gathering based by François Martial Marcille, an early admirer of Chardin. It was purchased at Drouot from the Marcilles’ inheritance in 1876 by Charlotte de Rothschild, the widow of baron Nathaniel de Rothschild. Each nonetheless lifes stayed within the household till their sale.
