Study for the painting Sultane prenant le café, estimate €15,000- 20,000 at Ader.
The first of these on March 20 offers around 183 works spanning the 16th to early 20th centuries from the collection of ‘Monsieur et Madame B’.
One of the highlights will be this signed black and red chalk bust portrait of a young Moorish servant by Carle van Loo (1705-56) It is a preparatory study for the servant in the artist’s painting Sultane prenant le café in the Hermitage which shows Madame de Pompadour dressed in Turkish costume drinking coffee in an Oriental interior.
The 13¾ x 11½in (35 x 29cm) work, which is signed lower left, has estimate of €15,000-20,000.
The sale is followed on March 21 and 23 by two auctions of works from the Paris dealership Talabardon & Gautier, the second of which is given over to Old Master and 19th century works on paper, while a third mixed-owner sale of old and modern drawings will be staged on March 24.
