Beschreibung:

John La Farge (American, 1835-1910) Himene at Fara. Tahiti. Midday. At the Queen's Home, 1891 Unsigned, inscribed "Young men playing & singing at Faaa/at...by Marau at her place/they...together so...get the pitch. May 91./..."ufe-potapota" name of flute" in pencil and numbered "180" on a label in the margin l.l., "This face...yellow in value..." in pencil u.r., and "Mr. Henry L. Higginson." in ink on the reverse. Watercolor and graphite on paper, sheet size 10 15/16 x 12 in. (27.8 x 30.5 cm), unframed. Condition: Acid burn, toning, tape residue. Provenance: Henry Lee Higginson, Boston, ca. 1893-d. 1919; by descent in the Higginson family. Literature: "Pictures by John La Farge," New York Times, Feb. 26, 1895, p. 3; John La Farge Reminiscences of the South Seas (New York: Doubleday and Company, 1912), ill. opp. p. 86 (as The Flute Player. Samoa); Bancel La Farge "[List of Lenders, Durand-Ruel Exhibition]," (New Haven, Connecticut: Unpublished Ms., La Farge Family Papers, [1895]), no. 180; Elizabeth Hutcheson Carrell, "John La Farge: Renaissance Spirit in America," (Austin, Texas: Unpublished M.A. thesis, University of Texas, May 1972), p. 106 (ill. p. 127); Prints and Drawings Department, Loan Card No. 1769.10 (1910); Archives of American Art, Macbeth Papers (not microfilmed), Stockbook 1922-1954, 22 no. 84 (1 Jan. 1943). Exhibitions: Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York, Paintings, Studies, Sketches and Drawings, Mostly Records of Travel 1886 and 1890-91 by John La Farge, 25 Feb.-25 Mar. 1895, no. 180; Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France, Études, esquisses, dessins: Souvenirs et notes de voyage (1886 et 1890-91) par John La Farge 24 Apr.-May 1895, no. 179; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, La Farge Memorial Exhibition, 1-31 Jan. 1911 [no catalogue]. N.B. This work was included in the late Henry A. La Farge's Catalogue Raisonne of the Works of John La Farge and we wish to thank Dr. James L. Yarnall for updating and supplementing the information for inclusion in this catalogue entry. Exhibited at Durand-Ruel in New York in 1895 as Himene at Fara. Tahiti. Midday. At the queen's home. 1891. This was followed by the note: "This was a group of young men, a choir, who sang alternately with others, seated on either side of the verandah during our lunch. They are in a faint sunlight, which falls more distinctly in the back-ground."