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The Birthday Party
The Birthday Party detail The Birthday Party detail
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The Birthday Party

1885
John Singer Sargent visual detail
ArtistJohn Singer Sargent
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Market Intelligence

Observed sale facts, comparable evidence, artist index history and modeled research remain separate.

Public evidence
Last known price $19,000 Dealer sale · Jan 7, 1963
+748.2% vs previous observed sale
Matched price history · normalized USD · Foundry provisional
1961 · $2,2401963 · $19,000
$2K1961
$19K1963
Last known price$19,0002 matched observed sales
Observed median$10,620
Observed sales2
Artist index309.1
1963-01-07Dealer sale$19,000.00
1961-12-14Dealer purchase$2,240.00
Artist index contextLatest public build 309.1 · base 100 · n=1.Artist-level context is not an artwork valuation.

Comparable Sales

Same-artist public sales ranked by medium, creation year, dimensions and sale recency.

Evidence ranked
ArtworkSale dateHouseRealized USDMatch
On the Coast of Brittany
1878 · oil on canvas
1951-12-31—$1,500.0082%
On the Coast of Brittany
1878 · oil on canvas
1949-04-19—$1,500.0082%
Mrs. Charles Huntington
1898 · Oil on canvas
1968-03-22—$32,725.0071%
Mrs. Charles Huntington
1898 · Oil on canvas
1965-01-01—$1,750.0071%
Robert de Cévrieux
1879 · oil paint, canvas
1922-02-20—$6,000.0056%
Robert de Cévrieux
1879 · oil paint, canvas
1921-11-28—$1,760.0056%

Similarity score is descriptive evidence ranking, not a valuation model. Every row comes from the public-rights market boundary.

Provenance

Public
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Source provenance text

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Miaconfidence 100%

Exhibitions

Public
No rights-cleared exhibition history is published.
Related public works

Catalog neighbours

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Sourced Overview Evidence

This vivaciously painted work is one of several interior scenes from the 1880s featuring portraits of Sargent’s friends. Here the French artists Albert Besnard (1849–1934) and Charlotte Dubray Besnard (1855–1931) are shown celebrating the birthday of their eldest child, Robert (1881–1914). The painting has traditionally been dated to 1887 based on the number of candles on the cake (apparently six). However, the looseness of Sargent’s brushstrokes makes the candle count an unreliable marker. A series of etchings of Robert by his father suggests a slightly earlier date. The same childish jowls, undefined brow, and innocent stare depicted by Sargent appear in the prints before 1886. Albert Besnard recalled Sargent painting the work in 1885. Robert would have been turning four. Charlotte would have been pregnant then, which could account for Sargent placing her maternal presence at the very center of his work.

Miaconfidence 100%

Evidence state

2 observed sales · 6 comparable sales · 1 structured provenance events · 0 structured exhibitions.

Short DescriptionCredit LineProvenance Text