Opinion of the Continental Press on Michael Munkácsy. And his Picture of “Milton Dictating Paradise Lost to His Daughters". Presented to the Lenox Library, by Robert Lenox Kennedy, Esq. Now on Exhibition there.
Paris: Published by Chas. Sedelmeyer, Dealer in Works of Art, 1879. First edition. Text in English and French. The original printed title, that refers to a London exhibition, crossed in pen and the details of the Lenox Library show written in hand, both on cover and title page. In publisher’s printed blue wrappers. 100 p., and 1 plate frontispiece (aquaforte portrait of Munkácsy by Charles Courtry). The engraved plate slightly chipped at edges, no effect on the image. Pages yellowed due to ageing, they became fragile and some corners are worn, with no effect on text. Ex collection and duplicate stamps, blind stamp of the New York Public Library on title page. Cover and endpapers artistically restored. Overall in fine condition.
First edition of the exhibition brochure for Munkácsy’s painting “The Blind Milton Dictating Paradise Lost to his Daughters” (1878).
This historical genre picture marked a milestone in Munkácsy’s oeuvre. It has been exhibited at the Paris World’s Fair in 1878 where it was bought by the art dealer, Charles Sedelmeyer, who could soon resell it for a huge profit. After this deal Sedelmeyer offered a ten-years contract to Munkácsy, and made him a wealthy man and a well established member of the Paris art world.
Sedelmayer exhibited the picture in several European cities, among them in London, where this brochure accompanied the show.
The painting was sold to the American collector, Robert Lenox Kennedy, who exhibited it in New York at the Lenox Library. Today, it hangs in the New York Public Library, which was established in part through the Lenox family’s generosity.
Mihály Munkácsy (1844–1900) was a Hungarian painter who lived in France and earned international reputation with his large scale genre pictures.
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Price: €1,000.00