Jean-Jacques HENNER (Bernwiller, 1829 - Paris, 1905) Woman on a black divan, also known as 'Reclining Woman Oil on canvas Titled and signed 'Hommage à (...) / JJ Henner / 1876' debossed upper right Label with n° 5995 on the back Sleeping beauty, oil on canvas, signed, by J.-J. Henner 7.09 x 11.02 in. 18.0 x 28.0 cm Provenance: Gérard Lévy Collection ; Then by descent Bibliography: related : I. Lannoy (de), Isabelle, J. J. Henner: catalogue raisonné, Abbeville, Leclerc impr, 2008, vol. 1, cat. C.51 to C.57, p. 228 to 230 Our small canvas is an autograph replica of La Femme au divan noir, a large painting presented by Jean-Jacques Henner at the Salon of 1869 and now in the Musée des Beaux-arts de Mulhouse (inv. 84.10.50). It thus forms part of the serial work devoted to the female nude undertaken by the artist throughout his career, and here devoid of any allegorical or mythological suggestion. At the Salon of 1869, some of the critics, such as Théophile Gautier, questioned the subject: "Without taking the trouble, and we don't blame him, to find a goddess or nymph name for it, M. Henner simply calls the figure he is exhibiting: Femme couchée (Reclining Woman). It is, in fact, a reclining woman and nothing else; and that is enough, because it is admirably painted. The type of her form is more modern than antique, and if she were to take back the clothes she left to lie on her black satin divan, she could appear with elegance in a horse-drawn carriage around the lake; she has a supple waist, undulating hips and delicate extremities that are reminiscent of a Parisian woman; the contrast between white and black is handled with great gentleness, and the result is a harmony that is charming in its discretion<a href="https://artcurial.sharepoint.com/sites/SpeMaitresAnciensXIX/Documents%20shares/Sale%206168%20-%20Collection%20LEVY%20-%2011.02.2025/Catalogue/Envoy%C3%A9%20%C3%A0%20Rose/Corrections%20V2.docx#_ftn1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^{<strong><i>[1]</i></strong>}</a> ". We would like to thank Madame Isabelle de Lannoy for kindly confirming the authenticity of this work through a visual examination on 26 November 2024. It will be included in volume 3 of the artist's catalogue raisonné, currently in preparation. <a href="https://artcurial.sharepoint.com/sites/SpeMaitresAnciensXIX/Documents%20partages/Vente%206168%20-%20Collection%20LEVY%20-%2011.02.2025/Catalogue/Envoy%C3%A9%20%C3%A0%20Rose/Corrections%20V2.docx#_ftnref1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[1]</a> Gautier, Théophile, "Le Salon de 1869", L'Illustration, 1 May 1869, pp. 294-295. Jean-Jacques HENNER (Bernwiller, 1829 - Paris, 1905) 18.0 x 28.0 cm Our small canvas is an autograph replica of La Femme au divan noir, a large painting presented by Jean-Jacques Henner at the Salon of 1869 and now in the Musée des Beaux-arts de Mulhouse (inv. 84.10.50). It thus forms part of the serial work devoted to the female nude undertaken by the artist throughout his career, and here devoid of any allegorical or mythological suggestion. At the Salon of 1869, some of the critics, such as Théophile Gautier, questioned the subject: "Without taking the trouble, and we don't blame him, to find a goddess or nymph name for it, M. Henner simply calls the figure he is exhibiting: Femme couchée (Reclining Woman). It is, in fact, a reclining woman and nothing else; and that is enough, because it is admirably painted. The type of her form is more modern than antique, and if she were to take back the clothes she left to lie on her black satin divan, she could appear with elegance in a horse-drawn carriage around the lake; she has a supple waist, undulating hips and delicate extremities that are reminiscent of a Parisian woman; the contrast between white and black is handled with great gentleness, and the result is a harmony that is charming in its discretion<a href="https://artcurial.sharepoint.com/sites/SpeMaitresAnciensXIX/Documents%20shares/Sale%206168%20-%20Collection%20LEVY%20-%2011.02.2025/Catalogue/Envoy%C3%A9%20%C3%A0%20Rose/Corrections%20V2.docx#_ftn1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^{<strong><em>[1]</em></strong>}</a> ". We would like to thank Madame Isabelle de Lannoy for kindly confirming the authenticity of this work through a visual examination on 26 November 2024. It will be included in volume 3 of the artist's catalogue raisonné, currently in preparation. <a href="https://artcurial.sharepoint.com/sites/SpeMaitresAnciensXIX/Documents%20partages/Vente%206168%20-%20Collection%20LEVY%20-%2011.02.2025/Catalogue/Envoy%C3%A9%20%C3%A0%20Rose/Corrections%20V2.docx#_ftnref1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[1]</a> Gautier, Théophile, "Le Salon de 1869", L'Illustration, 1 May 1869, pp. 294-295.