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Anne Vallayer-Coster

Still Life with Flowers in an Alabaster Vase and Fruit, 1783

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 56

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 108.5 × 89.5 cm (42 11/16 × 35 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Chester Dale Fund

Accession Number

2023.40.1

Artists / Makers

Anne Vallayer-Coster (artist) French, 1744 - 1818

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Inscription

Lower right, on edge of table: M Ver. Coster. 1783

Provenance

The artist, Paris; by inheritance to her husband, Jean-Pierre-Silvestre Coster [1745-1824]; their estate sale, at his residence, 47 boulevard du Temple, Paris, 21 June 1824, no. 1;[1] purchased by a member of the Coster family and then probably by descent to Coster heirs. Acquired in the second half of the 1940s by a private collector in Grand Est region, France; by inheritance to his son and daughter, France; (sale, Christie's, Paris, 15 June 2023, no. 42); purchased by NGA.

[1] Notice des tableaux de fleurs peints par Mme Vallayer-Coster, Ancien member de l’Académie royale de Peinture, introduction by Charles Paillet, Paris: 1824. The painting sold for 1,100 francs. The sale catalogue described the painting thus: “Un des ouvrages les plus capitaux de cette célèbre artiste, il offre, pour objet principal, un vase d'albâtre richement orné, dans lequel sont placées des fleurs du plus bel éclat et du plus beau choix. Ce vase, posé sur une table à dessus de marbre blanc, est entouré de fruits, tels que grapes de raisin, pêches et ananas. Il porte la date de 1783 ; et, depuis cette époque, qui était celle de la grande force des talens [sic] de Mme Coster, elle a constamment résisté aux instances réitérées des personnages illustres et des amateurs distingués qui désiraient posséder ce tableau, dont elle n'a jamais voulu se désaisir, le regardant comme le meilleur de ses ouvrages.” (“One of the most significant works by this famous artist, it presents as its main subject a richly adorned alabaster vase, in which flowers of the most brilliant splendor and finest selection are placed. This vase, placed on a white marble tabletop, is surrounded by fruits such as grapes, peaches, and pineapples. It bears the date of 1783, and since that time, which was the period of Madame Coster's great talent, she has consistently resisted the repeated requests of illustrious individuals and distinguished art lovers who desired to possess this painting, as she never wanted to part with it, considering it the best of her works.”)

Associated Names

Christie's
Private Collection (NGA Former Owner)

Exhibition History

1783: Salon, Paris, 1783, no. 77.

Bibliography

1970: Roland Michel, Marianne. Anne Vallayer-Coster 1744-1818. Paris, 1970: 103, no. 4, 104, 269.

2002: Bailey, Colin. "A Still-Life Painter and Her Patrons: Collecting Vallayer-Coster, 1770-1789." In Anne Vallayer-Coster. Painter to the Court of Marie-Antoinette, edited by E. Kahng and Marianne Roland Michel. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; Dallas Museum of Art; The Frick Collection, New York: 2002-2003: 61.

2023: Anne Vallayer-Coster: protégée de Marie Antoinette. Exh Cat. Galerie Eric Coatalem, Paris, 2003: 73, fig. 15, 74.

2024: Brunner, Rob. "Flower Power." Washingtonian 59, no. 6 (March 2024): 11-12, color figs.

2024: Wile, Aaron. "Gifts and Acquisitions."Art for the Nation no. 68 (Spring 2024): 19, repro. 18.