The Cleveland Museum of Art

• Provenance
  1890

  (Probably Bernheim-Jeune, Paris)

  By 1892

  (Possibly Monsieur de H.)

  By 1895

  Frederick R. Sears, Jr. [1855-1939], Boston

  1925

  (Bernheim-Jeune, Paris)

  ?

  Norton Gallery, New York

  Until 1977

  Noah L. [1918-1980] and Muriel S. Butkin [1915-1908], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art

  1977-

  The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

  Provenance Footnotes

  1 The 1892 Exposition T. Ribot, held at Bernheim-Jeune, includes a painting entitled “Le Concert” (no. 226), whose lengthy, detailed description matches that of the Cleveland picture perfectly.  The given dimensions are 72 x 60 cm, just one centimeter off in height from Singers.  The catalogue description says that the signature is in the lower right, while the Cleveland painting is signed in the lower left; this is most likely an error, as it seems almost certain that the exhibited work and the Cleveland picture are one and the same given the precise description and dimensions.  

  2 A Ribot painting at the Palais National de l’École des Beaux-Arts entitled “Une Répétition” (no. 26) matches the dimensions of Singers exactly.  “M. de H.” is the listed owner and may refer to the same collector indicated on the painting’s stretcher by a stamp that reads “PH.”  

  3 A typewritten label on the back of the stretcher reads, “From the collection of Frederick R. Sears," referring not to Frederick R. Sears, a noted art collector, but to his son, Frederick R. Sears, Jr.  Sears, Jr. lent the Ribot to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston from July 11, 1894 until October 11, 1895.  The painting ("Bohemian Singers") is listed in the 1895 Catalogue of Paintings and Drawings with a Summary of other Works of Art.  While some publications place Sears directly before Norton Gallery in the provenance, given that he certainly owned the painting in 1894-1895, it seems that he should in fact precede Bernheim-Jeune’s 1925 purchase of the painting.  

  4 Bernheim-Jeune purchased this painting (stock no. 5982/BJ; label visible on stretcher) in November 1925.  The date of sale was illegible in the firm’s stock book, which contained no additional information concerning the circumstances of the painting’s acquisition, sale, or earlier provenance. 
• Citations
  MM. Bernheim Jeune & cie (Paris, France). Exposition T. Ribot: catalogue raisonné

  Exposition Th. Ribot au Palais National de l'École des Beaux-Arts. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, 1991.

  Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Catalogue of Paintings and Drawings, with a Summary of Other Works of Art Exhibited on the Second Floor, Summer, 1895. Boston: A. Mudge & Son, printers, 1895.

  d'Argencourt, Louise, Roger Diederen, and Alisa Luxenberg. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999.

  Catherine O'Reilly, email to Victoria Reed, Dec. 29, 2015, in CMA curatorial file.

  Guy-Patrice Dauberville, letter to Victoria Sears Goldman, July 28, 2015, in CMA curatorial file.

  d'Argencourt, Louise, Roger Diederen, and Alisa Luxenberg. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999.

  Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 544-546, Vol. II, no. 191

  Georget, Luc. "Sous le Scalpel de Ribot." In Théodule Ribot, 1823-1891: Une Délicieuse Obscurité. Emmanuelle Delapierre, Luc Georget, Gabriel Weisberg, eds., 118-181. Paris: LienArt, 2021. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 148-149, no. 46
• Exhibition History
  Théodule Ribot (1823-1891): A Delightful Darkness. Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, France (October 16, 2021-January 2, 2022) https://www.augustins.org/en/exhibition-theodule-ribot; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Marseille, Marseille, France (February 10-May 15, 2022); Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen, Caen, France (organizer) (June 11-October 2, 2022) https://mba.caen.fr/exposition/theodule-ribot.

  Breaking the Mold: The Legacy of the Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin Collection of Nineteenth-Century French Art. Snite Museum, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN (organizer) (September 2-December 2, 2012).

  Snite Museum of Art, Notre Dame University, South Bend, IN (8/26/2012 - 11/15/2012): "Breaking the Mold: The Legacy of Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin Collection of Nineteenth-Century French Art", ex. cat. no. 66, p. 192-193.

  Lutes, Lovers, and Lyres: Musical Imagery in the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 14-June 11, 1989).

  The Realist Tradition: French Painting and Drawing 1830 - 1900. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 12, 1980-January 18, 1981).

  Year in Review: 1977. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1977-January 22, 1978).

  Bordeaux, La Société des Amis des Arts de Bordeaux. (1865), no. 450.

  Paris, Galerie Bernheim Jeune. Exposition T. Ribot (1890), no. 226, Le concert, 72 x 60 cm, signé dans le coin et à droite (cma painting is signed lower left, but the extensive description otherwise fits perfectly).

  Probably Paris, Palais National de l'École des Beaux-Arts. Exposition Th. Ribot (1892), no. 26, Une répétition, 73 x 60 cm, appartient à M. de H. (stamp with initials "PH" on reverse could refer to this owner).

  Possibly Paris, Galerie Bernheim Jeune. Exposition Ribot (1911), no. 19, Les chanteurs.

  CMA; Brooklyn Museum; Saint Louis Art Museum; Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum. The Realist Tradition: French Painting and Drawing 1830-1900 (1980-82), 50, no. 12 (repr.). Text by Gabriel P. Weisberg.
• Cite this Page
  {{cite web|title=Singers|url=false|author=Théodule Ribot|year=1863–1868|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}