Tedesco Frères Selling Rosa Bonheur: An Inquiry into Dealers’ Stock Books

Abstract

The Dieterle family records of French art galleries, 1846–1986, at the Getty Research Institute, hold the stock books of the Parisian gallery Tedesco Frères. The stock books document transactions relating to approximately two hundred artworks by nineteenth-century painter Rosa Bonheur, who is considered one of the most prominent women artists of her time. Bonheur herself stressed the importance of Tedesco Frères for her career, along with the significance of the role played by publisher and dealer Ernest Gambart. While Gambart’s contributions to Bonheur’s popularity have received much scholarly attention, the contributions of Tedesco Frères are rarely mentioned. The records in the archive furnish the extent of the dealings by Tedesco Frères and enable new conclusions about the gallery’s impact on Bonheur’s commercial success and international fame. The gallery’s sales strategies are also evaluated in the context of the growing internationalization of art markets in the late nineteenth century.