Provenance
1Durand-Ruel Paris • 1880–1883 Acquired from the artist, Brown Price no. 261.
2Henry Lerolle Paris • 1883–[d.] 1929 Acquired from the above, and kept in Lerolle's possession until the end of his life, Brown Price no. 261, n. 1.
3The estate of Henry Lerolle Paris• 1929–(?) Shaw Research Library, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, Fulton Bequest Papers, Archive Box 2/39, Correspondence and Conferences 1945–1948, Translation of a letter from H. Joly, Paris, to Professor Randolph Schwabe, London, 1 March 1947 (Information kindly provided by Benjamin K. Thomas, Department of Fine Arts, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, 6 September 2006), offering The Prodigal Son for acquistion by the National Gallery of Victoria through the Fulton Bequest for which Schwabe acted as an advisor. Joly states that he was able to acquire the painting only after Lerolle's death, but doesn't specify when.
4H. Joly Paris Acquired from the above, Letter as above, n. (3). In 1944, the painting was offered at a sale in Paris, consigned perhaps by Joly, and bought in, unless Joly would have acquired it only then, Tableaux et dessins anciens […], tableaux modernes […], L'Enfant prodigue par Puvis de Chavannes […], Vente à Paris, Hôtel Drouot, Paris (10 May 1944), no.26.
5Art trade Paris • 1952Tableaux modernes […], Vente à Paris, Hôtel Drouot, Paris (28 November 1952), no. 109.
6Henri Puvis de Chavannes Paris • 1952/53 Nephew of the artist, acquired at the above sale (?), or acting as an agent after the painting was bought in, Information given by Marlborough International Fine Art to Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection, 24 and 29 August 2012; H. Joly, in his Letter as above, n. (3), mentions that he was close to Henri Puvis de Chavannes.
7Marlborough Fine Art Ltd. London Acquired from the above between November 1952 and March 1953, Information given by Marlborough International Fine Art to Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection, 24 and 29 August 2012; AStEGB, Invoice from Trafo Anstalt für Handel und Finanz, Vaduz [Marlborough Fine Art Ltd., London], made out to Emil Bührle, 20 April 1953 for 4 paintings (two views of Venice by Canaletto, Flowers and Lemons by Picasso, and The Prodigal Son by Puvis de Chavannes, Emil Bührle Collection, Inv. 138, 139, 77, 42), for a total sum of CHF 420.000.
8Emil Bührle Zurich • 20 April 1953 until [d.] 28 November 1956 Acquired from the above, AStEGB, Receipt for the total amount of CHF 420.000 for all four paintings as above n. (5), signed by F. K. Lloyd [Head of Marlborough Fine Art Ltd., London], 20 April 1953.
9Given by the heirs of Emil Bührle to the Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection Zurich • 1960 Inv. 82.
AStEGB = Archive of the Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich
Aimée Brown Price, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, 2 vol., New Haven (Connecticut) & London, 2010.
Exhibitions
1879Ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, gravure, lithographie et architecture des artistes vivants…[Salon de 1879] Société des artistes français (Palais des Champs-Elysées) • Paris • 1879 no. 2488.
1883Ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, architecture, gravure, lithographie des artistes vivants… [Salon/Exposition Nationale de 1883] Palais des Champs-Elysées • Paris • 1883 no. 592.
1887Exposition de tableaux, pastels, dessins par M. Puvis de Chavannes Galerie Durand-Ruel • Paris • 1887 no. 10.
1889Exposition centennale [de l'art français 1789–1889, peintures] Exposition Universelle Internationale (Palais du Champ de Mars) • Paris • 1889 no. 559.
1894Salon de la Libre Esthétique Brussels • 1894 no. 368.
1899Exposition de tableaux, esquisses et dessins de Puvis de Chavannes Galerie Durand-Ruel • Paris • 1899 no. 21.
19042ème Exposition, Salle Pierre Puvis de Chavannes Salon d'Automne (Grand Palais) • Paris • 1904 no. 32.
1906Ausstellung französischer Meister Galerie Paul Cassirer • Berlin • 1906 no. 22.
1930Cent ans de peinture française Galerie Georges Petit • Paris • 1930 no. 11.
1934Exposition de l'art religieux d'aujourd'hui Hôtel des Ducs de Rohan • Paris • 1934
1949Eugène Carrière et le Symbolisme Orangerie des Tuileries • Paris • 1949–50 no. 90.
1952"Dessins" et petits tableaux de Pierre Puvis de Chavannes 1824–1898 Musée Galliera • Paris • 1952 no. 127.
1953Important French Masters of the XIXth and XXth Centuries, Marlborough Fine Art Ltd., London 1953, no. 24.
1958Sammlung Emil G. Bührle, Festschrift zu Ehren von Emil G. Bührle zur Eröffnung des Kunsthaus-Neubaus und Katalog der Sammlung Emil G. Bührle Kunsthaus Zurich • 1958 no. 136.
1958Hauptwerke der Sammlung Emil Georg Bührle–Zürich Haus der Kunst • Munich • 1958–59 no. 26.
1969Il sacro e il profano nell'arte dei Simbolisti Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna • Turin • 1969 no. 58; The Sacred and Profane in Symbolist Art, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto 1969 no. 47 (exhibited in Turin only).
1976Puvis de Chavannes 1824–1898 Grand Palais, Paris • National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa • 1976–77 no. 131.
2000Symbolism in Danish and European Painting 1870–1910 Statens Museum for Kunst • Copenhagen • 2000–01 no. 5.
2002From Puvis de Chavannes to Matisse and Picasso, Toward Modern Art Palazzo Grassi • Venice • 2002 no. 8.
2010Van Gogh, Cézanne, Monet, Die Sammlung Bührle zu Gast im Kunsthaus Zürich Kunsthaus Zurich • 2010 no. 82.
References
1879Jean Mériem (Armand Dayot) Salon de 1879 Paris • 1879 • p.7.
1879Th. Véron Dictionnaire Véron, Salon 1879 Paris • 1879 • pp. 486–487.
1888Joséphin Péladan La décadence esthétique, L'art ochlocratique, Salons de 1882 et de 1883 Paris • 1888 • p. 23.
1895Marius Vachon Puvis de Chavannes Paris • 1895 • pp. 68 (ill.), 72–73.
1896Marius Vachon Un maître de ce temps, Puvis de Chavannes Paris • 1896 • pp. 162–163.
1899Arsène Alexandre «Puvis de Chavannes, Sa vie et son œuvre» in Le Figaro illustré (107, February) • 1899 • p. 41 (ill.).
1904Maurice Hamel «Le Salon d'Automne» in Les Arts (3, November) • 1904 • p. 32 (ill.).
1912André Michel • Jean Laran Puvis de Chavannes Paris • 1911 • pp. 69–70, fig. 27 (English edition: London & Philadelphia 1912).
1926Léon Werth Puvis de Chavannes Paris • 1926 • pp. 26–28, fig. 8.
1928Camille Mauclair Puvis de Chavannes Paris • 1928 • pp. 119–120, fig. 28.
1949Henri Puvis de Chavannes «Puvis de Chavannes et la Bourgogne» in Bulletin de la société des amis du musée de Dijon 1949–50 • pp. 42–43.
1960Werner Hofmann Das Irdische Paradies, Kunst im neunzehnten Jahrhundert Munich • 1960 • p. 97 (ill.).
1963René Gimpel Journal d'un collectionneur machand de tableaux Paris • 1963 • p. 432 (7 April 1931).
1966Jean-Paul Crespelle Les maîtres de la Belle Époque Paris • 1966 • p. 176.
1966Bruno Toscano Simbolismo e intimismo fine secolo Milan • 1966 • fig. 10.
1973Leopold Reidemeister etc. Stiftung Sammlung Emil G. Bührle • Fondation Collection Emil G. Bührle • Foundation Emil G. Bührle Collection Zurich & Munich • 1973 • no. 28 (ill.;21986).
1975Richard J. Wattenmaker Puvis de Chavannes and the Modern Tradition (exh. cat.) • Art Gallery of Ontario • Toronto • 1975 • p. 160, fig. 28.
1978Sophie Monneret L'Impressionnisme et son époque, Dictionnaire international illustré vol. 1 • Paris • 1978 • p. 332 (entry for Lerolle).
1994Aimée Brown Price Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (exh. cat.) • Van Gogh Museum • Amsterdam • 1994 • pp. 18–19, 161–162.
1994Emil Maurer Stiftung Sammlung E.G. Bührle, Zürich Bern • 1994 • p. 46 (English edition: Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich, Bern 1995).
1997Brian Petrie Pierre Puvis de Chavannes Hants (UK) & Brookfield (Vermont) • 1997 • pp. 103–106, fig. 58.
1998Alec Wildenstein • Marie-Christine Decroocq Odilon Redon,Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint et dessiné vol. 4 Etudes et grandes décorations, Supplément Paris • 1998 • entry for cat. no. 2250 (a drawing with a copy of the Prodigal Son by Redon, ill.).
2001Daniel Wildenstein Gauguin, Premier itinéraire d'un sauvage, Catalogue de l'œuvre peint (1873–1888) Paris & Milan • 2001 • vol. 2, p. 513 (ill.).
2002Jennifer L. Shaw Dream States, Puvis de Chavannes, Modernism, and the Fantasy of France New Haven & London • 2002 • p. 138.
2002Margaret Werth The Joy of Life, The Idyllic in French Art, circa 1900 Berkley etc. • 2002 • p. 37, fig. 17.
2002Aux rives de l'incertain, Histoire et représentation des marais occidentaux du Moyen Âge à nos jours (exh. cat.) • Musée Sainte-Croix • Poitiers • 2002–03 • p. 171, fig. 10 (entry for cat. no. 61).
2005Lukas Gloor • Marco Goldin (ed.) Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich, Catalogue vol. 2 • Conegliano & Zurich • 2005 • no. 89 (ill.; German edition: Stiftung Sammlung E.G. Bührle, Katalog • Italian edition: Fondazione Collezione E.G. Bührle, Catalogo).
2005Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Une voie singulière au siècle de l'Impressionnisme (exh. cat.)• Musée de Picardie • Amiens • 2005–06 • p. 182 (entry for cat. no. 172).
2006Emmanuelle Amiot-Saulnier «Henry Lerolle (1848–1929), peintre naturaliste et chrétien» in Histoire de l'art(58) • 2006 • p. 89.
2010Aimée Brown Price Pierre Puvis de Chavannes vol. 1 The Artist and His Art p. 95, fig. 115, vol. 2 A Catalogue Raisonné of the Painted Work London & New Haven • 2010 • no. 261 (ill.).
2013Bernhard Echte • Walter Feilchenfeldt (ed.) Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer vol. 3 Die Ausstellungen 1905–1908 Wädenswil • 2013 • pp. 196 (ill.)–197, 203.
2021Lukas Gloor «The Holdings of the Emil Bührle Collection: Illustrated List of All 633 Purchases» in The Emil Bührle Collection: History, Full Catalogue and 70 Masterpieces Swiss Institute for Art Research, Zurich (ed.) • Munich • 2021 • no. 284 (ill.).