Aaron Anderson
Specialist, Head of Sale
PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF FLORENCE ELY NELSON, SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA
Lot 14
Louis Comfort Tiffany(1848-1933)Market at the Mosque of Abu el Haggag, Luxor, Egypt 40 1/8 x 30 1/4in (101.9 x 76.8cm) Executed in 1911.
Amended
20 May 2021, 16:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$106,562.50 inc. premium
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Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933)
Market at the Mosque of Abu el Haggag, Luxor, Egypt
signed and dated 'Louis C. Tiffany -11' (lower right)
watercolor, gouache, pastel and charcoal on paper laid down on board
40 1/8 x 30 1/4in (101.9 x 76.8cm)
Executed in 1911.
signed and dated 'Louis C. Tiffany -11' (lower right)
watercolor, gouache, pastel and charcoal on paper laid down on board
40 1/8 x 30 1/4in (101.9 x 76.8cm)
Executed in 1911.
Footnotes
Please note that the essay for this lot has been updated. Please refer to the digital versions of the auction catalogue and the listing for this lot on Bonhams.com. We wish to thank Dr. Roberta A. Mayer for her continued assistance in cataloging this lot.
Provenance
The artist.
M. Knoedler & Co., New York.
Annie Burr Jennings, Fairfield, Connecticut, acquired from the above, March 1913.
Oliver Burr Jennings, New York, nephew of the above, by descent, 1939.
Constance Jennings Ely, sister of the above, by descent, 1968.
By descent to the late owner, daughter of the above, 1991.
Exhibited
(Probably) New York, The Century Association, November 1911. (as Market at Asswan, Egypt)
New York, M. Knoedler & Co., Forty-Sixth Annual Exhibition of the American Water Color Society, March 3-15, 1913, no. 133, p. 16, (as Market at Assuan)
Literature
G. Kobbé, "Elizabethan Banquet Hall, Bought Abroad, Now on Way Here," New York Herald, March 9, 1913, third section, p. 7. (as Market at Assuan)
We wish to thank Dr. Roberta A. Mayer for her kind assistance in cataloguing this lot.
In January 1908, Louis Comfort Tiffany made an extended winter voyage to Egypt, traveling on the Nile with his twin daughters. Egypt captured Tiffany's interest early in his career ever since his first voyage in 1870, making his 1908 voyage his second excursion through the ancient land of the Pharaohs. During this trip, Tiffany spent time putting his impressions to paper in a sketchbook that he would later reference in finished works and designs. On February 25, 1908, Tiffany completed a sketch that he did not identify, but based on the research of Dr. Mayer, it depicts the Mosque of Abu el Haggag just outside the pylon gates of the Luxor Temple in Luxor. The sketch likely served as his source of inspiration for both the present work and for a watercolor and gouache titled The Temple Ruins at Luxor, Egypt (1908, Nassau County Museum of Art).
When the present work was exhibited at the forty-sixth exhibition of the American Water Color Society, which was hosted by M. Knoedler & Co. in 1913, it was incorrectly titled Market at Assuan, Egypt in the exhibition catalogue (also, what is today Aswan is spelled in the records in various different ways). In his review of the exhibition, Gustav Kobbé remarked, "Among the large pictures which are sure to attract attention is Louis C. Tiffany's 'Market at Assuan.' This is a carefully studied and thought out composition, with natives and camels in the foreground, and in the middle ground architectural masses, their heaviness relieved by airy minarets and an Oriental sky." ("Elizabethan Banquet Hall, Bought Abroad, Now on Way Here," New York Herald, March 9, 1913, third section, p. 7). This description accords with the present work. Furthermore, the painting described by Kobbé is the one that was purchased from Knoedler in 1913 by Annie Burr Jennings as Market at Assuan, and, therefore, is the one offered here under the new title of Market at the Mosque of Abu el Haggag, Luxor, Egypt.
Dr. Mayer notes that Tiffany painted variations of different sites with and without figures, and there are other instances where the titles of Tiffany's works from his travels do not match with the actual image, perhaps as a result of an incorrect remembrance of an exhausting itinerary. Though Tiffany is celebrated today for his contributions to the decorative arts and interiors, Tiffany began his artistic career as a painter and continued to paint and draw throughout his life. Early on he embraced working on paper and was an early member of the American Society of Painters in Water Colors, later the American Water Color Society, alongside his close friend and mentor Samuel Colman (1832–1920). Arguably, some of Tiffany's watercolor and gouache paintings represent some of his best work. The art and architecture that he admired and recorded during his travels was an important influence on a number of his most iconic designs in the decorative arts in various media. Subsequently, the landscapes and town views that he sketched, such as in Luxor, would later appear prominently in his oeuvre. Market at the Mosque of Abu el Haggag, Luxor, Egypt is a superb example of this and offers a unique and finished interpretation into the artist's experience in Egypt.
Saleroom notices
Please note that the essay for this lot has been updated. Please refer to the digital versions of the auction catalogue and the listing for this lot on Bonhams.com. We wish to thank Dr. Roberta A. Mayer for her continued assistance in cataloging this lot.