MATTHEW QUINN, PARTNER IN QUINN'S AUCTION GALLERIES, IS ACCUSTOMED TO DEALING WITH AMAZING CONSIGNMENTS AND ESTATE CONTENTS FROM WASHINGTON DC DIPLOMATS AND HIGH SOCIETY, SO IT TAKES SOMETHING RATHER SPECIAL TO CAPTURE HIS IMAGINATION. THAT HAPPENED RECENTLY WHEN A WASHINGTON WOMAN BROUGHT IN A PAINTING THAT, WHILE UNSIGNED, WAS IDENTIFIED ON VERSO AS BEING A WORK BY HONORE DAUMIER. DAUMIER WAS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS SATIRICAL LITHOGRAPHS, AND PRODUCED NEARLY 4,000 LITHOS BEFORE HE LOST HIS SIGHT AT AGE 64. AS HE WAS CREATING HIS LITHOGRAPHS, HE ALSO PAINTED. HOWEVER, DAUMIER'S PAINTINGS ARE VERY RARE, VERY FEW WERE DISPLAYED PUBLICLY DURING THE ARTIST'S LIFETIME. THE PAINTING APPEARS TO BE AN OIL SKETCH THAT DAUMIER WOULD HAVE CREATED PRIOR TO EXECUTING HIS OIL-ON-PANEL WORKS IN THE SERIES TITLED THE PRINT COLLECTOR. THE SUBJECT OF THE SERIES IS A TOP-HATTED GENTLEMAN WHO BROWSES THROUGH ART PRINTS IN A GALLERY SETTING. THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO AND THE PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART ARE AMONG THE INSTITUTIONS THAT OWNS ORIGINALS FROM THE SERIES. THE FRENCH WRITING ON THE BACK OF THE PAINTING: 'H DAUMIER / ESQUISSE ORIGINATE POUR L'AMATEUR D'ESTAMPES'. SEVERAL KNOWLEDGEABLE BUYERS OF EUROPEAN ART WHO HAVE VIEWED THE PAINTING SAID THEY WERE IMPRESSED BOTH BY ITS BEAUTY AND THE ARTIST'S REFINED TECHNIQUE. 'BUT THAT'S NOT ENOUGH FOR ME TO SAY IT'S POSITIVELY A DAUMIER', SAID QUINN. 'IN FACT, I'VE SPENT QUITE A BIT OF TIME TRYING TO DISCREDIT THIS PAINTING, BUT I CAN'T. REALISTICALLY, A SIGNED DAUMIER IN TODAY'S MARKET MIGHT BRING IN THE RANGE OF $60,000 TO $80,000, BUT THIS ARTWORK IS NOT SIGNED, SO WITHOUT SOLID PROVENANCE, WE'RE OFFERING IT IN OUR 6.MARCH SALE WITH AN ATTRIBUTION TO DAUMIER AND A $6,000-$8,000 ESTIMATE. IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT IT WILL BRING AS AN UNSIGNED, ATTRIBUTED WORK.'
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