(The Hague 1839–1902 Paris)
A tender moment, signed F. H. Kaemmerer, oil on canvas, 111 x 76 cm, framed, (GG)

Provenance:
Kunsthandel M. Wolff, Amsterdam, inventory no. 2321;
probably acquired there by the current owner’s grandfather;
by inheritance to the current owner;
Private Collection Italy.

Compare:
Christie’s London, 3 December 2003, lot 7.

Frederik Hendrik Kaemmerer spent his formative years at the Dutch Royal Academy of Fine Arts in the Hague, under the Romantic landscape artist Salomon Verveer (1813-1876). In 1865, he moved to Paris to study at the Academy of Fine Arts under Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904), where he adopted a style typical of the Academy. He specialised in French genre scenes set in the eighteenth century, featuring elegant ladies. He was successful in his lifetime, winning medals at the Salon in 1874 and at Paris’ Exposition Universelle of 1889, as well as being awarded the Légion d’Honneur in 1902. He made frequent visits to The Hague, and in 1871, he visited the coast at Scheveningen, where he switched to a more impressionistic style.

Kaemmerer returned to this subject on more than one occasion. In fact, there are two known works of the same size. One was sold at Christie’s in London in 2003, and the other is the present work. Classical scenes like the present lot, depicting members of Parisian high society in their elegant dresses and suits, were very popular among wealthy American and European collectors, which might explain why there are two similar versions of this piece.