Category:The Love Letter by Jean-Honoré Fragonard

Provenance:

• baron Félix Sébastien Feuillet de Conches, Paris (by 1860–d. 1887);
• his daughter, Mme Georges Claude Jagerschmidt, Paris (1887–at least 1897;
• sold to Cronier);
• Ernest Cronier, Paris (until d. 1905;
• his estate sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, December 4, 1905, no. 7, for Fr 420,000, to Gimpel, Wildenstein, and Kraemer);
• [Gimpel & Wildenstein and Eugène Kraemer, Paris, 1905–7;
• sold to Bardac];
• Joseph Bardac, Paris (1907–19;
• sold to Gimpel & Wildenstein);
• [Gimpel & Wildenstein, Paris and New York, 1919;
• sold for $44,940 to Bache];
• Jules S. Bache, New York (1919–d. 1944;
• his estate, 1944–49; cats., 1929, unnumbered; 1937, no. 50; 1943, no. 49)

• Paris. 26, Boulevard des Italiens [Francis Petit]. "Tableaux et dessins de l'école française, principalement du XVIIIe siècle, tirés de collections d'amateurs," 1860, no. 133 (as "Le Billet doux," 79 x 69 cm, lent by M. le baron F. de Conches).
• Paris. Palais de la Présidence du Corps Législatif. "Ouvrages de peinture exposés au profit de la colonisation de l'Algérie par les Alsaciens-Lorrains," April 23–?, 1874, no. 160 (as "Portrait de Femme," lent by M. Feuillet de Conches).
• Paris. Ecole des Beaux-Arts. "Portraits de femmes et d'enfants," April 30–?, 1897, no. 59 (as "Femme avec un petit chien," 80 x 62 cm, lent by Mme Jagerschmidt).
• Paris. Galerie Georges Petit. "Chardin et Fragonard," June–July 1907, no. 146 (as "Le Billet doux," lent by Eugène Kraemer and Wildenstein).
• New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition," May 8–August 1920, unnumbered cat. (p. 10, as "Le Billet Doux," lent by Jules S. Bache).
• New York. Reinhardt Galleries. "Paintings from Memling, Holbein and Titian to Renoir and Picasso," February 27–March 17, 1928, no. 15 (lent by Jules S. Bache).
• Hartford, Conn. Wadsworth Atheneum. "French Art of the XVIII Century," 1929, no. 10 (lent by Jules S. Bache) [see Sterling 1955].
• London. Royal Academy of Arts. "French Art: 1200–1900," January 4–March 12, 1932, no. 215 (lent by J. S. Bache).
• San Francisco. California Palace of the Legion of Honor. "French Painting from the Fifteenth Century to the Present Day," June 8–July 8, 1934, no. 30 (lent by Jules S. Bache, New York).
• New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "French Painting and Sculpture of the XVIII Century," November 6, 1935–January 5, 1936, no. 46 (lent by Jules S. Bache).
• Cleveland Museum of Art. "Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition," June 26–October 4, 1936, no. 60 (lent by Jules S. Bache).
• Paris. Palais National des Arts. "Chefs d'œuvre de l'art français," July–September 1937, no. 160 (lent by Jules S. Bache).
• New York. World's Fair. "Masterpieces of Art: European & American Paintings, 1500–1900," May–October 1940, no. 117 (lent by the Jules S. Bache Collection).
• New York. Parke-Bernet. "French and English Art Treasures of the XVIII Century," December 20–30, 1942, no. 16 (lent by Jules S. Bache).
• New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Bache Collection," June 16–September 30, 1943, no. 49.
• Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Diamond Jubilee Exhibition: Masterpieces of Painting," November 4, 1950–February 11, 1951, no. 48.
• New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art Treasures of the Metropolitan," November 7, 1952–September 7, 1953, no. 129.
• London. Royal Academy of Arts. "France in the Eighteenth Century," January 6–March 3, 1968.
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Masterpieces of Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 16–November 1, 1970, unnumbered cat. (p. 71).
• New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries," November 15, 1970–February 15, 1971, no. 308.
• New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Fragonard," February 2–May 8, 1988, no. 148A.
• Athens. National Gallery Alexandros Soutzos Museum. "From El Greco to Cézanne: Masterpieces of European Painting from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," December 13, 1992–April 11, 1993, no. 29.
• Milan. Palazzo Reale. "Il gran teatro del mondo: l'anima e il volto del Settecento," November 13, 2003–April 12, 2004, no. II.67.
• Paris. Musée du Luxembourg. "Fragonard amoureux: Galant et libertin," September 16, 2015–January 24, 2016, no. 61.

• Georges Wildenstein, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, 388 
• Jean-Honoré Fragonard catalogue raisonné, 1972 Mandel, 413
• https://www.wga.hu/html/f/fragonar/father/2/09letter.html 
• The Met object ID: 436322 
• Google Arts & Culture asset ID: AQFdA7kpsQmSJg 
• Bpk-ID: 50115219 
• Artstor artwork ID: 18414349 
• Utpictura18 artwork ID: 11254 
• Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History  
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (2012 edition)

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