Explore the Exhibitions and provenance of this artwork, Lady at her Dressing Table.
In 1918 Femme au miroir was included in the exhibition and sale in New York of the Léonce Rosenberg collection. In the catalogue the painting (No. 97) is titled Lady at her Dressing Table, signed Metzinger and dated April 1916 on the back. The dimensions given are 36 1/2 x 25 1/2 inches. For the occasion of the Léonce Rosenberg sale, Lady at her Dressing Table was reproduced in an article published in The Sun (New York, N.Y.).The painting was likely purchased by the American collector John Quinn at the Rosenberg sale or shortly afterwards. Two years earlier, on 10 February 1916, John Quinn had acquired Metzinger's Au Vélodrome (At the Cycle-Race Track) (no. 266) and the Racing Cyclist (no. 124). Both paintings had been on view in the Carroll Galleries exhibition: Third Exhibition of Contemporary French Art—with works by Pach, Gleizes, Picasso, de La Fresnaye, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Derain, Duchamp, Duchamp-Villon and Villon. The acquisition was preceded by a lively correspondence between Quinn, the gallery manager Harriet Bryant, and the artist's brother Maurice Metzinger.In 1927 an exhibition and sale of Quinn's art collection took place in New York City. The event included works by Jean Metzinger, Albert Gleizes, Henri Matisse, André Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck, Robert Delaunay, Jacques Villon, Gino Severini, and Raymond Duchamp-Villon; in addition to American artists Arthur B. Davies, Walt Kuhn, Marsden Hartley, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, and Max Weber. The sale was conducted by Otto Bernet and Hiram H. Parke at the American Art Galleries. A catalogue was published for the occasion by the American Art Association. Au Vélodrome (n. 266 of the catalogue) was purchased at the sale for $70 by American art dealer and publisher J. B. Neumann. Peggy Guggenheim purchased the painting from Neumann in 1945 and forms part of the permanent collection of her museum in Venice; Peggy Guggenheim Collection.Femme au miroir was included in the Quin exhibition and sale, titled Femme à sa toilette, no. 358. The catalogue description reads: Decorative cubistic portrayal of a lady at her dressing table, holding a mirror in her left hand. A curious relativity of form in vigorous colors. Signed at back, Metzinger, and dated 1916.The work was purchased for the sum of 55 U.S. dollars. John Quinn had also acquired Brooklyn Bridge and several other works by Albert Gleizes that had been on view at the Montross Gallery, New York, 1916—an exhibition that included works by Jean Crotti, Marcel Duchamp and Jean Metzinger—either during the exhibition or subsequently. Brooklyn Bridge (n. 263 of the catalogue) was purchased at the sale for $60. Other works by Metzinger at the sale included two works titled Paysage (no. 117 and 509A), Tête de Jeune Fille (no. 247), Tête de Femme (no. 500A).The sculptures of Lipchitz, Laurens and Csaky, and the paintings of Gris, Severini and Gleizes represented Cubism in its most distilled form between 1916 and 1920. However, by the time of his exhibition at the Galerie de L'Effort Moderne at the outset of 1919—just as before the war—Metzinger was considered a leader of the movement. His paintings at this exhibition were perceived as highly significant. The fact that Metzinger's Lady at her Dressing Table was chosen from more than 100 artworks in the Rosenberg sale to be reproduced in The Sun (New York) suggests that Metzinger was perceived as a leader of the Cubist movement abroad as well. For the general public, the idea of Cubism was for many years associated more with Metzinger than with Braque or Picasso, who exhibited in a private gallery rather than in the salons; essentially removing themselves from the public.
Jacques Villon Stanton Macdonald-Wright Galerie de L'Effort Moderne Gino Severini Venice Albert Gleizes Peggy Guggenheim Collection Cubist Maurice de Vlaminck Arthur B. Davies Cubism Walt Kuhn Marcel Duchamp André Derain Jean Crotti American Art Association John Quinn Robert Delaunay Henri Matisse Léonce Rosenberg Jean Metzinger Van Gogh Marsden Hartley Brooklyn Bridge Au Vélodrome (At the Cycle-Race Track) Au Vélodrome Max Weber Raymond Duchamp-Villon