Lot 28: u - Jean-Jacques Henner , Mary Magdalene

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Description: signed J. J. Henner and dated 1880 (lower right) oil on canvas

Notes: We thank Isabelle de Lannoy for confirming the authenticity of this lot which will be included as no. C.382 in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné.
PROPERTY OF THE TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART, SOLD TO BENEFIT THE ACQUISITIONS FUND
The present work is the third large replica Henner completed after his Magdeleine presented in the Paris Salon of 1878 (and now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Mulhouse). The artist began and completed the work of the Biblical figure in profile, kneeling in prayer between August 1879 and June 1880 after which it was purchased by Sarah M. Hitchcock through George A. Lucas. According to the artist's diary (Friday, July 2, 1880), Henner refused to promise Lucas that he would not paint another version of the work. Most likely eight large replicas of the Salon picture were executed in addition to twenty-seven small studies. The present work was the second of Henner's to enter an American museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in 1891. The work was withdrawn from its collection in 1928 by Mrs. Hitchcock's nephew, Thomas.

Provenance: Sarah M. Hitchcock, New York (commissioned directly from the artist through George A. Lucas)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1891-1928, bequeathed from the above)
Thomas Hitchcock, New York (in 1928)
Julian L. Peabody, New York (in 1928)
Babcock Galleries, New York
Vose Galleries, Boston (in 1930)
Arthur J. Secor, Toledo (in 1930)
Gifted from the above

Dimensions: measurements 48 1/2 by 36 3/4 in. alternate measurements 123.2 by 93.3 cm

Exhibited: New York, Union League Club, 1883, no. 458 Newport, Rhode Island, The Art Association of Newport, " Exhibition of Paintings by Old and Modern Masters," 1930, no. 20 Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Past Rediscovered: French Paintings, 1880-1900 , July 3-September 7, 1969, no. 48 Toledo Museum of Art, The Unseen Art of TMA: What's in the Vaults and Why? , September 12, 2004-January 2, 2005