Singer with a White Plume

by 1929 -
Georges Bernheim (1870–1958), Paris, France [1]

by 1940 -
Bignou Gallery [Étienne Bignou (1891–1950)], Paris, France; New York, NY, USA [2]

by 1941 -
Lee A. Ault (1915–1996), New York, NY, USA [3]

by 1945 - still in 1946
Bignou Gallery [Étienne Bignou (1891–1950)], New York, NY [4]

- 1952
M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York, NY, purchased from Bignou Gallery

1952 - 1975
Mr. and Mrs. Sydney M. Shoenberg, St. Louis, MO, purchased from M. Knoedler & Co., Inc. [5]

1975 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Mr. and Mrs. Sydney M. Shoenberg [6]


Notes:
[1] A 1929 article which illustrates this painting lists it in the collection of Georges Bernheim [Malraux, André. "Notes on Tragic Expression in Painting Apropos of the Recent Work of Rouault," in "Formes" I:1 (December 1929)].

[2] The painting features in the Bignou Gallery Albums at the Frick Art Reference Library, New York, although no collection information is given [Bignou Gallery Albums, Frick Art Reference Library, New York, transcript, SLAM document files]. It was also included in an exhibition at Bignou Gallery, New York in May 1940. No lender is listed ["Paintings and Gouaches by Georges Rouault." New York: Bignou Gallery, May 1940, cat. 1]. In August, 1940, Bignou Galleries lent this painting to Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, Los Angeles ["Roualt." Pamphlet printed by Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, August 1940, titled "La Plume Blanche."]

[3] Mr. Lee A. Ault is listed as the lender in a 1941 exhibition catalogue ["Expressionism." Cincinnati: Cincinnati Art Museum, April 20 - May 20, 1941].

[4] See note [2]. An exhibition catalogue from 1945 lists the lender as Bignou Gallery, New York ["Paintings and Prints by George Rouault." Chicago: The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, October 5-31, 1945, cat. 9]. A 1946 catalogue from an exhibition at Bignou Gallery in New York also includes this painting ["A Selection of Contemporary Paintings." New York: Bignou Gallery, 1946, cat. 12].

[5] Sydney M. Shoenberg purchased the work from M. Knoedler & Co., Inc. on May 12, 1952. Information provided to the Museum by Shoenberg indicates that Knoedler's acquired the painting from Etienne Bignou, Paris, who bought it from the artist himself [donor notes, SLAM document files]. According to the 1929 reference (see note [1]), however, the picture was initially owned by Georges Bernheim, and later acquired by Etienne Bignou.

[6] Minutes of the Acquisitions Committee of the Board of Trustee, Saint Louis Art Museum, November 6, 1975.