Provenance
1Hubert Debrousse Château de Moyeux, Nangis, Seine-et-Marne Collection de feu M. Hubert Debrousse, Catalogue des tableaux modernes, (sale cat.) Hôtel Drouot, Paris (4–6 April 1900), no. 112.
2Private collection Paris • by 1912 Anonymous Sale, Paris (7 December 1912), no. 15, Maison I-90.
3Hirsch Paris Fourth Exhibition «La Flèche d’Or», Important Pictures from French Collections, Arthur Tooth & Sons Ltd., London 1938, no. 28; Getty Research Institute, Santa Monica (California), Tooth Archive, Box 21, Consignments, mentions «P. Guillaume» as the owner of the painting at the 1938 Flèche d'Or exhibition. The painting seems to have been on the market for an extended period of time; Maison no. I-90 tentatively gives Jos Hessel, Paris, and Justin K. Thannhauser, New York, as possible additional steps in its provenance. A reference to Duncan Phillips, Washington D.C., given by Maison cannot be corroborated in the catalogues of the Phillips Collection.
4Domenica Walter-Guillaume by 1938 until 1947 Getty Research Institute, Santa Monica (California), Knoedler Gallery Archive, Stockbooks, Book 9, p. 157, no. A3763, identifies Mrs. Jean Walter (formerly Mrs. Paul Guillaume) as the consignor.
5M. Knoedler & Co., Inc. New York • 1947–1948 Co-owned with the above, a half share of $ 6.000 taken by the Knoedler Galleries on 29 October 1947, Knoedler Gallery Archive, Stockbook 9, as above, n. (4).
6William F.C. Ewing New York • 1948 Acquired from the above in January 1948 for $ 18.000, Stockbook 9, as above, n. (4).
7M. Knoedler & Co., Inc. New York Maison no. I-90; Kauffmann Inventory, Notebook I, inscribed «1952/USA», on page headed with the inscription 25–5–52 KNOED and containing a list of paintings, obviously seen by Kauffmann at Knoedler Galleries, including «Daumier, small picture with two heads, one en face», marked with an *. The price quoted for the Daumier is $ 22.000. No reference regarding the return of the painting by Ewing to the Knoedler Gallery, as indicated by Maison no. I-90 is contained in the gallery's stock books, which might indicate that the painting was acquired directly from Ewing, and might also explain why AStEGB, Inventory Card Daumier, Avocats, gives as provenance private collection, New York.
8Dr. Arthur Kauffmann London • 1952 AStEGB, Entry Book II, 15 July 1952, identifying Dr. Fritz Nathan as the consignor; Inventory Card Daumier, Avocats, identifying Dr. Arthur Kauffmann as the seller.
9Emil Bührle Zurich • 25 July 1952 Acquired from the above, Inventory Card as above, n. (9), with date of acquisition; the price may have been $ 25.000, Kauffmann Inventory, Notebook II, inscribed «1952/USA», and listing a selection of paintings, including Daumier, Les deux avocats, now priced at $ 25.000.
10Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection Zurich 1960 Inv. 28.
AStEGB = Archive of the Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich
Karl-Eric Maison, Honoré Daumier, Catalogue raisonné of the Paintings, Watercolours and Drawings, 2 vol., Paris, 1967-1968.
Exhibitions
1901Sonderausstellung von Werken von H. Daumier Bruno & Paul Cassirer • Berlin • 1901 (no cat.).
1901Exposition Daumier Syndicat de la presse artistique (Ecole nationale des Beaux-Arts) • Paris • 1901 no. 46.
1904Grosse Kunstausstellung Städtischer Ausstellungspalast • Dresden • 1904 no. 573.
1938Fourth Exhibition "La Flèche d’Or”, Important Pictures from French Collections Arthur Tooth & Sons Ltd. • London • 1938 no. 28.
1955Europäische Meister 1790–1910 Kunstmuseum Winterthur • 1955 no. 61.
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. 124.
1959De Géricault à Matisse, Chefs-d'œuvre français des collections suisses Petit Palais • Paris • 1959 no. 39.
1999Daumier 1808–1879 Musée des Beaux-Arts du Canada, Ottawa • Grand Palais, Paris • Phillips Collection, Washington D.C. • 1999–2000 no. 182 (Paris only).
2010Van Gogh, Cézanne, Monet, Die Sammlung Bührle zu Gast im Kunsthaus Zürich Kunsthaus Zurich • 2010 no. 28.
2017Chefs-d'oeuvre de la collection Bührle, Manet, Cézanne, Monet, Van Gogh… Fondation de l'Hermitage • Lausanne • 2017 no. 6.
References
1908Erich Klossowski Honoré Daumier Munich • 1908 • no. 113 (21923, no. 113A, fig. 76).
1927Eduard Fuchs Der Maler Daumier Munich • 1927 • no. 24B (ill., bottom).
1938Jacques Lassaigne Daumier Paris • 1938 • p. 83 (ill., top; 21947; English edition: New York & London 1938, 21947).
1954Jean Adhémar Honoré Daumier Paris • 1954 • fig. 19 (German edition).
1959André Chamson • François Daulte De Géricault à Matisse, Chefs-d’œuvre d’art français des collections suisses Paris • 1959, (ill.).
1968Karl Eric Maison Honoré Daumier, Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, Watercolours and Drawings London • 1968 • vol. 1 The Paintings, no I–90.
1971Luigi Barzini • Gabriele Mandel L’opera pittorica completa di Daumier Milan • 1971 • fig. 26, no. 116, (ill., German edition: Das gemalte Gesamtwerk von Daumier, Lucerne etc. 1971 • French edition: Pierre Georgel, Gabriel Mandel, Tout l'œuvre peint de Daumier, Paris 1972).
1973Leopold Reidemeister etc. Stiftung Sammlung Emil G. Bührle • Fondation Collection Emil G. Bührle • Foundation Emil G. Bührle Collection Zurich & Munich • 1973 • no. 21 (ill.; 21986).
1994Emil Maurer Stiftung Sammlung E.G. Bührle, Zürich Bern • 1994 • pp. 36–37 (English edition: Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich, Bern 1995).
2005Lukas Gloor • Marco Goldin (ed.) Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich, Catalogue vol. 2 • Conegliano & Zurich • 2005 • no. 46 (ill.; German edition: Stiftung Sammlung E.G. Bührle, Katalog • Italian edition: Fondazione Collezione E.G. Bührle, Catalogo).
2011B. Echte, W. Feilchenfeldt (eds.) «Das Beste aus aller Welt zeigen», Kunstsalon Bruno & Paul Cassirer, Die Ausstellungen 1898–1901 Wädenswil • 2011 • pp. 395 (ill.)–396.
2011Jean-Louis Forain (1852–1931), «La Comédie parisienne» (exh. cat.) • Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris (Petit Palais) • Paris 2011 etc. • pp. 130–131, fig. 2.
2012Michel Melot Éloge de Daumier Tesserete • 2012 • fig. 17.
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. 245 (ill.).