Credit Line:Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. William Coxe Wright Gift, 1957
Object Number:57.89
Inscription: Signed (lower left): Paul-Chabas
the artist, Paris (sold ca. 1913 to Philippe Ortiz, New York, but probably not delivered; sold ca. 1913, for Fr 50,000, to Mantacheff); Leon Mantacheff, Moscow and Paris (ca. 1913–31; sold in February 1931, for Fr 37,500, to Gulbenkian); Calouste S. Gulbenkian, Paris and New York (1931–48; inv. no. 2075; probably his gift on April 24, 1948 to Guiterman); M. Guiterman, New York (from 1948); [Wildenstein & Co., London, New York, Paris, until 1957; sold in 1957 to Wright]; Mr. and Mrs. William Coxe Wright, Philadelphia (1957; their gift to MMA)
Paris. Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées. "Salon de 1912. 130e exposition. Société des artistes français," opened May 1, 1912, no. 382 (as "Matinée de septembre").
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "September Morn (Special Display in the Great Hall)," September 1957, no catalogue.
San Francisco. California Palace of the Legion of Honor. "September Morn," February 1–May 1, 1958, no catalogue (lent to this and the following two venues for special installation).
Portland, Ore. Portland Art Museum. "September Morn," June 1–29, 1958, no catalogue.
Toledo Museum of Art. "September Morn," July 15–September 1, 1958, no catalogue.
Los Angeles. Municipal Art Gallery. "Old Favorites Revisited: A Loan Exhibition of Paintings," October 8–November 9, 1959, no. 12.
San Francisco. California Palace of the Legion of Honor. "The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. William Coxe Wright," August 28–September 26, 1965, no. 3.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Impressionist Epoch," December 12, 1974–February 10, 1975, not in catalogue (brochure, p. 23) [Venue title as published in The Met brochure].
Henri Frantz. "The Old and New Salons in Paris." International Studio 47 (August 1912), p. 102, ill. p. 107, identifies the setting of this painting as Lake Annecy [in the Haute-Savoie region of France].
Maurice Hamel. "Société des artistes français. Salon de 1912." Les Arts 11 (June 1912), p. 19, ill. p. 8.
[François] Thiébault-Sisson. "Les Salons de 1912: Le Salon des artistes français." Le temps (May 3, 1912), p. 4.
Lilian Washburn Newlin. "Monsieur Chabas' Paintings at the Salon." Town and Country (June 22, 1912), p. 21, ill.
"Wearies of Waiting a Comstock Arrest: Manager of Braun & Co. Withdraws 'September Morn' from His Shop Window." New York Times (May 15, 1913), p. 7, publishes a letter to the Editor by Philippe Ortiz stating that he removed a reproduction of this painting from the Braun & Co. window because crowds were blocking entry.
"Comstock Dooms September Morning." New York Times (May 11, 1913), p. 1, reports that Anthony Comstock, head of New York's Society for the Suppression of Vice, demanded that [a reproduction of] this picture be removed from the window display of the gallery Braun & Co., but that the gallery manager [Philippe Ortiz] later returned it to the window.
R. C. Dunning. "A Flatterer of Women." Vogue 41 (May 1, 1913), p. 38, ill., notes that the artist won the medal of honor for the inclusion of this picture in the Salon [Exh. Paris 1912].
"Topics of the Times: Prurient Prudes at Work." New York Times (May 2, 1913), p. 10, reports that several Midwest cities have attempted to ban the display of reproductions of this painting.
"Comstock Explains: Ordered 'September Morning' from View Because Teacher Complained." New York Times (May 12, 1913), p. 5.
"Censorship of Pictures. Publishers of 'September Morning' Criticise [sic] Mr. Comstock." New York Times (May 14, 1913), p. 10.
"'September Morn'." Nashville Tennessean and the Nashville American (June 12, 1913), p. C10, ill., asserts that Chabas "refused to sell [this picture] to an American lest it be taken out of the country".
Joseph P. Watkins. "Dainty Irene Shannon, Southern Girl, was Original of Chabas' 'September Morn'." Nashville Tennessean and the Nashville American (December 14, 1913), p. 5A, ill. (detail), claims that Chabas based this figure on sketches of an American actress and artist's model.
"Chabas Plans Visit Here: Painter of 'September Morn' Hopes to Spend Winter in America." New York Times (May 17, 1914), p. C2, quotes the artist: "I received one bid for 'September Morn' from an American, but my price, $10,000, was finally given by the Russian Leon Mantacheff of St. Petersburg".
"September Morn Creator Coming." Chicago Daily Tribune (June 14, 1914), p. A1, quotes the artist's statement that he set a high price for this picture in the 1912 Salon because he never intended to sell it; asserts that an "American newspaper proprietor" offered a low price that was refused before Mantacheff's offer was reluctantly accepted.
"Artist Seeks Trace of Nude: September Morn Missing, Chabas Reports." Middletown Times Herald (March 16, 1933), p. 7, recounts Ortiz's recollection that he purchased this work in 1913 for Fr 12,000 ($2,400) on behalf of the Holland House Bar, but that the Holland House closed before the painting was brought to the United States and he could not find another buyer; notes that the work's last known location was in the Mantacheff collection, Moscow, but that it is now considered lost; identifies the model as Marthe, the wife of a wealthy provincial industrialist.
"'September Morn,' Missing Since Red Revolution, Found in Paris." New York Herald Tribune (March 28, 1935), p. 1, reports that the United Press located this painting in Calouste Gulbenkian's collection, Paris; asserts that Mantacheff "said today he kept the picture hidden during the revolution and sold it to Gulbenkian... about a year ago".
"The Story of 'September Morn'." Lethbridge Herald (October 11, 1935), p. 9, summarizes the history of this painting from an article by Glyn Roberts in an unnamed British newspaper: notes that the figure in this work was an artist's model who posed in the summers of 1910 and 1911 at Lake Annecy, beginning at age 16; erroneously states that the original painting was exhibited in the Braun & Co. window, New York; notes that Mantacheff sold the picture to Gulbenkian, who had formerly worked for him.
"Plump September Morn is Now Mother of Three." New York Herald Tribune (March 7, 1935), p. 13, quotes the artist's assertion that he sold this work in 1912 to Mantacheff for Fr 50,000 [$10,000].
"'September Morn,' Rich, Is 'Fat and 40'." Art Digest 11 (October 1, 1936), p. 31, ill. (installation photo, the artist's studio).
"Paul Chabas Dies." Art Digest 11 (June 1, 1937), p. 9.
"Paul Chabas Dies in Paris at 68; Painted 'September Morn' in '12." New York Herald Tribune (May 11, 1937), p. 16, ill. (installation photo, the artist's studio), states that Mantacheff took this picture to Moscow in 1913.
"Paul Chabas Dies; A Noted Painter." New York Times (May 11, 1937), p. 25.
"This Famous Painting Ruined My Life." Tit-Bits (March 20, 1937), p. 11, ill., identifies the model for this picture as Suzanne Delve, who posed at age sixteen in the artist's studio; includes an interview with Delve, who asserts that the background scene was painted later.
"September Morn." Art Digest 11 (June 1, 1937), p. 4.
Aline B. Louchheim. "More Old Masters to Visit America." New York Times (June 11, 1950), p. 106, erroneously states that Gulbenkian purchased it in 1934 for Fr 90,000 [see provenance].
J[ames]. J. R[orimer]. "Notes." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 16 (Summer 1957), unpaginated, ill.
"Lady of the Lake." Time (September 2, 1957), p. 56, ill.
"Museum Acquires 'September Morn'." New York Times (August 28, 1957), p. 29.
Herbert Mitgang. "As the Visitors See Miss S. Morn." New York Times Magazine (September 15, 1957), p. SM112, ill. (installation photo, MMA Great Hall).
Paul V. Beckley. "'September Morn' Given to Metropolitan Museum." New York Herald Tribune (August 28, 1957), p. 1, ill. p. 8.
Emily Genauer. "Art News and a Nude at the Metropolitan." New York Herald Tribune (September 8, 1957), p. E10.
"Footnotes: Newsworthy Nude." American Artist 21 (November 1957), pp. 6, 8.
Jeremy Barker. "Letters to the Editors: Is This Art?" Art in America 45 (Winter 1957–58), p. 79, ill.
"Famous Painting on View Here." New York Herald Tribune (August 28, 1957), p. 8, ill.
Carl D. Sheppard Jr. Old Favorites Revisited: A Loan Exhibition of Paintings. Exh. cat., Municipal Art Gallery. [Los Angeles], 1959, unpaginated, no. 12, ill.
Henry J. Seldis. "Old Favorites in Comeback." Los Angeles Times (October 18, 1959), p. E7.
Alfred Werner. "Lawrence and Pascin." Kenyon Review 23 (Spring 1961), pp. 219–20.
Thomas C. Howe. The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. William Coxe Wright. Exh. cat., California Palace of the Legion of Honor. San Francisco, 1965, unpaginated, no. 3, ill.
Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 2, XIX Century. New York, 1966, pp. 222–23, ill., note that the model for the figure's head was a young American, Julie Phillips, who was unknowingly sketched by the artist in a Paris café.
Sidney Tillim. "Rosenquist at the Metropolitan." Artforum (April 1968), p. 46.
Carl R. Baldwin. The Impressionist Epoch. Exh. brochure, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [New York], 1974, p. 23.
Hilton Kramer. "Impressionists: The Epoch, Not the Art." Baltimore Sun (December 22, 1974), p. D12.
Carl R. Baldwin. "Art & Money: The Artist's Royalty Problem." Art in America 62 (March–April 1974), pp. 20–21, ill.
Fae Brauer. "'Moral Girls' and 'Filles Fatales': The Fetishisation of Innocence." Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art 10, no. 1 (2010), pp. 122–27, 130, 135–36, 140 nn. 1, 3, ill. (overall and detail).
Balthus (Balthasar Klossowski) (French, Paris 1908–2001 Rossinière)
1936–37
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