HENRI-JOSEPH HARPIGNIES (1819-1916)

A DESIGN FOR A DECORATIVE PANEL 
 
Signed to l.l. of left-hand landscape detail h harpignies 94.
Pen & ink with watercolour
19.2 x 11.5 cm | 32 x 24.1 cm (Framed)
 
 
PROVENANCE
With Kate de Rothschild, London;
From whom purchased by a Private collection, London;
With the Nonesuch Gallery, 2024, where acquired by the previous owner,
Private Collection, New York
 
 
 
 
 
The present work is an intriguing and unusual example of Harpignies’ watercolours, with two of his customary monochrome-wash landscapes - the larger one featuring a presumed self-portrait - and decorative details, combined to form an Art-Deco panel design. A comparable example is presently with Stephen Ongpin Fine Art, London (see fig. I), of almost identical dimensions, possibly dated to the same year as ours. A further sheet, again of the same dimensions and a similar composition, was on the art market in Paris in 1995 (see fig. II), which was also dated to 1894, suggesting that the three were perhaps part of a larger decorative scheme which Harpignies devised.