Georges LEMMEN (1865-1916) - Lot 182

Georges LEMMEN (1865-1916) Portrait of a Young Woman with a Pearl Necklace Oil on board, monogrammed and dated 1906 lower left 29 x 23 cm Provenance: Former Eugène Boch Collection We would like to thank Mr. Olivier Bertrand for confirming the authenticity of this work. He will issue a certificate at the buyer's expense. Eugène Boch was born into a family of entrepreneurs in Belgium, founders of Villeroy & Boch. In 1879, he stayed in the studio of French painter Léon Bonnat in Paris. Boch then worked in Fernand Cormon's studio. Dodge MacKnight introduced him to Van Gogh, who painted his portrait, now in the Musée d'Orsay. He was the younger brother of Anna Boch, a painter who took part in the 1907 Salon des Beaux-Arts in Ostend with Anna De Weert, Louise Danse and Marie Antoinette Marcotte. Anna Boch had one of the most important collections of Impressionist paintings of her time. She promoted young artists, including Vincent van Gogh, whom she admired for his talent and who was a friend of her brother Eugène Boch. She bought him La Vigne rouge, the only work Van Gogh managed to sell during his lifetime, for 400 francs. Anna Boch died in Brussels in 1936 and is buried in the Ixelles cemetery. Anna Boch's collection was sold at auction after her death, where Russian collector Sergei Shchukin notably acquired Vincent van Gogh's La Vigne rouge. The previously unpublished works presented in this sale come from the descendants of the French family who inherited her collection. For an identical provenance, see : Maître BONDU, Drouot-Richelieu, March 18, 1996 room 2, Estate of Mme X. Former Eugène BOCH Collection.