Has anyone heard of the Swiss artist. Benjamine ( the elder) Vautier?

Question

I have an old "print" of his, dated 1879, it's titled. The Anxious Moment. and am wondering about it's history. I bought it at a second hand store.

To guess who at large. I already know that this Is an original print By Vautier it is signed and dated by Benjamine 9 the Elder) Vautier 1887 and printed by Wood & Co New York 1890. It is the original wood frame with the old iron "brats" still in place. It is what appears to be a death bed scene of a young woman on a chaise lounge with her Doctor, and husband by her side and the rest of the family all around the room, looking very sad.

To guess who at large. I already know that this Is an original print By Vautier it is signed and dated by Benjamine ( the Elder) Vautier 1887 and printed by Wood & Co New York 1890. It is the original wood frame with the old iron "brats" still in place. It is what appears to be a death bed scene of a young woman on a chaise lounge with her Doctor, and husband by her side and the rest of the family all around the room, looking very sad.

Guess why At large ( Very long name) Yes that Is the picture in color.Mine is in black and white and very very old. certainly before 1925. As my details tell you. I have been tempted to take the backing off the picture to see if there is anything under neith, but don't want to ris damaging it's value which I'm certain there IS value to it. Please e mail me if you get anymore info on my picture.

Answer 1

Hi! There is Benjamin Vautier (or Marc Louis Benjamin Vautier) - b. Morges 1829 - 1898. Genre scenes and illustrator. His works are in the following museums: Aix-La-Chapelle, Bale, Berne, Berlin, Breslau, Cologne, Dresden, Dusseldorf, Geneve, Rath, Gratz, Hamburg, Koenigsberg, Leipzig, Mayence, Munich, Troppeau. http://www.globalgallery.com/enlarge/036-67517/
There is a page and a half devoted to him in 'E. Benezit.' http://web.artprice.com/ps/artitems.aspx?view=all&idarti=MzM3OTAwMjQ1ODg5&refGenre=A&page=5
http://web.artprice.com/ps/psdetails.aspx?idArtist=MzM3OTAwMjQ1ODg5
http://www.bridgemanartondemand.com/index.cfm?event=catalogue.artist&artistID=2244
http://www.onlinekunst.de/muttertag/gedicht/sangaluno_geburtstag.html
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?word=Vautier%2C%20Marc%20Louis%20Benjamin&s=3¬word=&f=4
A current auction description in Frankfurt: VAUTIER, MARC LOUIS BENJAMIN, "A farmer by an advocate", representation of a scene with two men sitting in a room, on the left the advocate, who is reading in papers, on his left a farmer in his sunday dress, the fittings of the room is like an office of an advocate in the 19. century, signed lower right B. Vautier, the painter Marc Louis Benjamin Vautier (*1829 Morges am See), he was the pupil of Jules Hebert in Genf , 1849 J. L. Lugardon and 1850 he was a year at the academy of Düsseldorf, he was influenced by Girardet, 1856-57 he lived in Paris, Vautier was in relation to Knaus, he got the title "Farmer painter", Vautier manufactured every year only four or five paintings, his works are in international museums and collections; oil on canvas, restored, in very good condition, with expertise of. H. Zimmermann, 62 x 79 cm (1247.1). The estimate is 85, 000 euros: (No. 1468) http://www.zimmermann-auktion.de/egemaelde.htm

This is a highly substantial artist. What you might choose to determine is whether it is, in fact, an original print or a reproduction. You can do this by contacting any fine auction house or reputable appraiser. I hope this helped. Good luck!

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Hi Audrey... I think I've found your 'image'... although here it's entitled "Anxious Hours." http://cgi.ebay.com/1925-B-Vautier-Framed-Print_W0QQitemZ3778425524QQihZ013QQcategoryZ20144QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
I haven't been able to locate a story behind the picture. My suggestion would be to contact Swann's Auction http://www.swanngalleries.com/print_drawings.cgi as they specialize in prints and would probably be able to answer this in a heartbeat!

Answer 2

Here is his biography:
(b Morges, Switzerland, 27 April 1829; d Düsseldorf, 25 April 1898). Swiss painter. He was apprenticed to an enameller in Geneva and took drawing lessons from Jules Hébert (1812–97). From 1850 to 1853 he lived in Düsseldorf, where he was taught by Carl Ferdinand Sohn and Rudolf Jordan. Some of his paiintings - like his Village Church with Congregation (1856; Worms, Ksthaus Heylshof) were based on ethnographic studies in the Bernese Oberland where he stressed psychological characterization through individual facial expressions. (does this apply to your picture?)
I can't find anything else about him on the net. But it might be worth while approaching a Swiss museum for more details, or even to find out whether they know where the original of Anxious Moment might be. For e.g. the Kunstmuseum Basle, email address is at http://www.kunstmuseumbasel.ch/en/info.htmlttp://www.kunstmuseumbasel.ch/en/info.html