The Flight into Egypt

Vincent Donjeux [died 1793], Paris, by 1773;{1} Henry John Temple, 2nd Viscount Palmerston [1739-1802], Broadlands, Hampshire, England, in 1773; By descent within the family until 1889. Sold to Sir Edward Cecil Guinness [1847-1927], later Earl of Iveagh, Dublin and London, in 1889;{2} By descent within the family to executors of the estate of Arthur Ernest Guinness [1876-1949], Holmbury House, Surrey, until 1953; Intended sale at (Christie’s, London) in 1953, but probably sold prior to auction;{3} (Knoedler Galleries, New York, with Thos. Agnew & Sons, London, and Pinakos Inc., New York) in 1953;{4} (Thos. Agnew & Sons, London); Sold to Mrs. G.H.A. Clowes [1886-1967], Indianapolis, in 1959; Clowes Fund Collection, Indianapolis, since 1959; On long-term loan to the Indianapolis Museum of Art since 1971 (C10052); Given to the Indianapolis Museum of Art, now the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, in 2003 (2003.171). ------- {1} The 18th-century artist-turned-dealer Donjeux sold this painting (and LV2, Coast Scene) to Henry Temple, 2nd Viscount Palmerston, as recorded in the Viscount’s “Book of Purchase”; see Marcel Röthlisberger, Claude Lorrain: The Paintings, 1961), 1: pp. 99, 466. For information on Donjeux, see the preface of the sale catalogue, Lebrun et Paillet, Paris, Catalogue des Objets Précieux trouvés après le décès du Citoyen Vincent Donjeux, ancient négociant de Tableaux et curiosités, 29 April 1793, and Charlotte Guichard, “Small Worlds: The Auction Economy in the Late Eighteenth-Century Paris Art Market,” in Neil de Marchi and Sophie Raux, eds., Moving Pictures: Intra-European Trade in Images, 16th-18th Centuries, Studies in European Urban History (1100-1800), volume 34, Turnhout, Belgium, 2014, pp. 244, 246. {2} As cited in Marcel Röthlisberger, Claude Lorrain: The Paintings, New Haven, 1961, volume 1, p. 99. {3} See Christie’s, London, Pictures by old masters, ancient and modern pictures and drawings, 10 July 1953, lot no. 57, but apparently sold before the sale to Knoedler, Agnew and Pinakos; see footnote below. {4} M. Knoedler & Co., Painting Stockbook 10, p. 111, no. 5435, Knoedler digital archive, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles. The stock number “A5435” is written in crayon on the back of the frame.