According to the artist's diary, this painting depicts a figure from Greek mythology, Echo. It was commissioned by Catherine Lorillard Wolfe, a great patron of contemporary French painting and of The Met, and became the first work by Henner to enter an American museum. Like the present canvas, the two other versions of this composition were also acquired by female collectors. One is now in the Musée national Jean-Jacques Henner, Paris; the other has not been located.
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Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, New York (1881–d. 1887; commissioned from the artist; purchased on August 27, 1881 for Fr 18,000)
New York. National Academy of Design. "Pedestal Fund Art Loan Exhibition," December 3, 1883–January 1, 1884, no. 20 (as "Listening Nymph," lent by Miss Catharine Wolfe).
Nashville. Fisk University. "100 Years of European Painting," April 28–June 10, 1965, unnum. checklist.
Southampton, N.Y. Parrish Art Museum. "In Support of Liberty: European Paintings at the 1883 Pedestal Fund Art Loan Exhibition," June 29–September 1, 1986, no. 38.
New York. National Academy of Design. "In Support of Liberty: European Paintings at the 1883 Pedestal Fund Art Loan Exhibition," September 18–December 7, 1986, no. 38.
Jean-Jacques Henner. Diary entry. August 27, 1881 [excerpt published in Ref. Lannoy 2008, vol. 2, p. 13], calls it "Echo" and notes that Wolfe purchased it for Fr 18,000.
"The Wolfe Pictures." New York Times (November 7, 1887), p. 4.
Mrs. Schuyler van Rensselaer. "The Wolfe Collection at the Metropolitan Museum. II." Independent 39 (November 24, 1887), p. 9.
"Gallery and Studio: The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Art Amateur 18 (December 1887), p. 7.
Arthur Hoeber. The Treasures of The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York. New York, 1899, p. 86.
Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 47.
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, p. 182, ill., note that this picture was commissioned by Wolfe from the artist; state that it is a replica of a painting dated 1881 (Musée national Jean-Jacques Henner, Paris; Lannoy 2008, no. C.653) and was probably made shortly after the original; mention two preparatory drawings for the original painting, also in the Henner museum.
Maureen C. O'Brien in Maureen C. O'Brien. In Support of Liberty: European Paintings at the 1883 Pedestal Fund Art Loan Exhibition. Exh. cat., Parrish Art Museum. Southampton, N.Y., 1986, pp. 24, 32, 95, 156, no. 38, ill., and colorpl. XIV, calls it "A Bather (Listening Nymph)" in the text and "A Bather" in the checklist; notes the influence of Giorgione and Correggio in pictures such as this one.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 438, ill.
Isabelle de Lannoy. J. J. Henner: Catalogue raisonné. [Abbeville], 2008, vol. 1, p. 58, ill.; vol. 2, pp. 13, 345, 350, no. C.655, ill., calls it "Spring. Large Variant"; dates it 1881, noting its similarity to a painting dated the same year (Musée national Jean-Jacques Henner, Paris; C.653); comments that the figure derives from the seated nude in the middle of the large canvas "Naiads or Bathers" (1877; Musée national Jean-Jacques Henner, Paris; C.330) and is also one of many variants from behind of the nude in "Spring" (1881; present location unknown; C.632); states that Wolfe paid Fr 18,000 for this painting, the first by Henner to enter the collection of an American museum.
This figure derives from the central seated nude in Henner's painting Naiads (1877; Musée national Jean-Jacques Henner, Paris; Lannoy 2008, no. C.330), which was exhibited at the Exposition Universelle, Paris, in 1878. The figure was reprised, with differences in details, in numerous versions of Fountain (all about 1880; Lannoy 2008, nos. C.503–15).
Henner painted two other versions of The Met's composition, both in or about 1881: one now in the Musée Henner (Lannoy 2008, no. C.653) and the other unlocated (Lannoy 2008, no. C.654).
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