Allard (no. 5221)
Chaim (or Chanu)
Bartfield Galleries, New York (1970)
Private Collection, England
Sotheby's, New York, May 23, 1985, lot 29, illustrated
Commerce de l'Art, Paris (1990-1991)
MacConnal-Mason & Son, London
Mrs. Mary A. Staples-Webber and Mr. David Webber (and sold, Sotheby's, New York, May 3, 2000, lot 33, illustrated)
Private Collection (acquired at the above sale)
Sale: Christie's, New York, October 25, 2006, lot 147, illustrated
Private Collection, Los Angeles (acquired from the above sale)

Paris, Salon, 1914, no. 788
Oshkosh, Wisconsin, The Paine Art Center and Arboretum, Léon Lhermitte: An International Exhibition, September-November, 1974, no. 55

Connoisseur, April 1970
Mary Michele Hamel, A French Artist: Léon Lhermitte: 1844-1925, Ph.D. dissertation, Washington University, St. Louis, 1974, p. 314, no. 311
Monique Le Pelley Fonteny, Léon Augustin Lhermitte: 1844-1925: Catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1991, p. 148, no. 228, illustrated

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This work is in excellent condition. The canvas is unlined. The original canvas stamp is clearly original on the reverse. The reverse probably has been lightly treated with an adhesive to add some strength to the original canvas. When viewed under ultraviolet light, no retouches are clearly illuminated. Lhermitte’s technique is very Impressionistic and a good deal of the “thinness” to the paint layer is intentional. Some of the thinness visible in the darker colors and in the water fountain may have been reduced with retouching. Therefore, there may be some retouching, but none of which addresses any structural damages. Cleaning is not recommended, and the picture looks very well as is.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

As a student in the atelier of Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran, Lhermitte was introduced to his teacher’s theories of memory training that honed his visual perception and keen awareness of value drawing. As he developed his technique, Lhermitte studied the compositions of Barbizon and fellow French painters Corot, Millet, Breton and Daubigny.  These early influences are apparent in his large scale oils (lots 60 and 63)  which evidence the artist’s brilliant ability to render physical form by varying the gradations of light and dark and maximizing the effect of shadow in modeling his subjects--- most often the rural people of France.  Popular with collectors across Europe and the United States, Lhermitte’s evocative compositions and success drew the attention of Vincent Van Gogh who wrote to his brother Theo that the artist was “the master of the figure.  He’s able to do what he likes with it — conceiving the whole neither from the color nor from the local tone, but rather proceeding from the light — as Rembrandt did — there’s something astonishingly masterly in everything he does” (Vincent Van Gogh to Theo Van Gogh on or about September 2, 1885, Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, inv. no. b463 V/1962).  By the end of the 1870s, Edgar Degas had considered inviting Lhermitte to the fourth Impressionist exhibition further suggesting his reputation among the avant garde.  From the close observation and personal interpretation of his subjects, Lhermitte would remain an advocate of the Realist and Naturalist movements throughout his career (Gabriel P. Weisberg, The Realist Tradition, French Painting and Drawing 1830-1900, exh. cat., The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1980, pp. 301-2).