Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s Jeune Fille au Chapeau, €2.5m (£2.17m) at Boisgirard Antonini.
Image: Artcento
Estimated to make €400,000-600,000, the painting was the object of a 10-minute bidding battle between the room and a number of phone bidders.
Jeune Fille à Chapeau, a 20 x 17in (52 x 42.5cm) framed oval canvas dated to c.1770-75 depicts a fashionably attired young woman in a wide-brimmed hat freely executed with fluid brushstrokes in a sketchy, loose style.
The painting is thought to have formed part of the collection of Dominique Magaude (1722-1806) who was deputy to the Estates General, justice of the peace and prosecutor for the king and deputy of Puy de Dôme. It had remained with his descendants until the auction.
Until the early 20th century the collection also included Fragonard’s portrait of a philosopher which was sold in 2021 in Epernay by Enchères Champagne for a hammer price of €6.3m, but the two paintings became separated when they went into different branches of the family.
The sale took place on December 21.
