Baltimore Lent Fragonards
May 29 2024
Picture: artbma.org
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I missed news from the end of last year that the Baltimore Museum of Art have been lent two exquisite Fantasy Figures by Fragonard. The paintings have come from a private collection and are currently on display in the museum's European galleries.
According to the article linked above:
The two paintings were paired together in a private collection in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. First acquired by the celebrated Rothschild banking family in the 1880s, and now belonging to their descendants, the paintings were among the many works seized in 1938 following the Anschluss, or annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany, and returned after the end of World War II. The last time they were publicly exhibited together was at the National Gallery of Art in 2017. Now, this pair of fantasy figures faces each other across the doorway in the BMA’s Jacob Epstein gallery, reunited and in conversation with each other once again.
