DALLAS — Achieving the highest price in Heritage Auctions’ Fine European Art Signature Auction on June 9 was William Adolphe Bouguereau’s (French, 1825-1905) “Bergère (Shepherdess),” an oil on canvas composition painted in 1888 that sold for $325,000, including premium. The painting’s provenance included two “Museum Makers,” having previously been in the personal collections of both John Joseph Albright (1848-1931), who founded the Albright Art Gallery (later the Albright-Knox) in Buffalo, N.Y., and Amon G. Carter Sr (1879-1955), creator and publisher of the Fort-Worth Telegram and progenitor of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas. Painted at a time when the tastes of the Paris Salon were turning towards naturalism, “Bergère” exemplifies this shift and is considered an exceptional example of the artist’s work from this time. It was the top price in a sale that realized $1.6 million overall. An upcoming issue will detail more of the auction’s highlights.
