(Stockholm 1737–1807)
Elegant figures dining in a classical garden,
oil on canvas, 50 x 61 cm, framed

Provenance:
with Galerie Cailleux, Paris;
Collection of Sir Philip and Lady Harris (according to a label on the stretcher);
sale, Christie’s, London, 18 April 1980, lot 103;
sale, Christie’s, London, 19 April 2000, lot 63;
Collection of Dr. Peter D. Sommer;
his sale, Christie’s, London, 4 December 2014, lot 48;
Private collection, Germany

The artist of the present work was trained by his father in Stockholm and is known for his miniatures in oils and gouache. He was recognised and rewarded in this genre which led to his appointment of Royal Court Miniature Painter to Crown Prince Gustav, later Gustav III (1746–1792) in 1796 after returning to Sweden from a seven year stay in Paris. When in Paris, the artist was inspired by the works of Jean-Antoine Watteau, Jean-Honoré Fragonard and Francois Boucher as seen in the present painting which clearly relates to the popular genre of the fête galante. With the outbreak of the French Revolution, Lafrensen II was forced to return to Sweden where he focussed on portraiture, for which the demand was more stable than for his interpretations of the aforementioned fête galante. It is therefore likely that the present work could very well have been executed during the artist’s Parisian period.