See it on your real wall in AR
Scan to open on your phone, then tap “View in AR”.
Get Notified
Be the first to know about new works by Philip Boileau.
Philip Boileau (1864-1917) Peggy, 1905
New accounts are approved at once and can bid up to €5,000 per bid; verify your identity in your account to bid without a limit.
Ask on WhatsAppBid on this lot
Already have an account? Sign in and you’ll come straight back to this lot.
Create an account to place a pre-auction bid. We’ll email you a 6-digit code to confirm your address.
Confirm your bid
Confirm your bid of €200.
If you win at €200 you will pay ≈ €250 incl. 25% buyer's premium.
Your maximum bid
We bid for you, one step at a time, only as far as needed and never above this figure. Other bidders never see it.
Minimum 200 €. Bids step by 25 €.
Withdraw your bid
Withdraw your maximum bid of €0 on Lot 23? This cannot be undone.
Details
Signed and dated in the image ‘copyright 1905 by Philip Boileau 1903’ (lower left); titled ‘Peggy’ (upper right).
Sizes:
Frame: 62 × 45 cm | 24.4 × 17.7 in
Artwork: 46 × 29 cm | 18.1 × 11.4 in
A young woman with a cloud of auburn hair turns her head over a shoulder wrapped in dark feathers and looks at us with pale blue eyes and the ghost of a smile: ‘Peggy’, one of the best-loved of the ‘Boileau girls’ that made Philip Boileau’s name in the first years of the century. The image was drawn in pastel in 1903 and published in 1905 as a colour lithograph on grey paper, the printed signature, copyright line and title reproducing the artist’s hand; the model is traditionally identified as his wife, the actress Emily Gilbert.
Boileau (1864–1917), Canadian-born and trained in Europe, settled in New York in 1902 and became one of the most popular illustrators of the Edwardian age, with 34 covers for the Saturday Evening Post and countless postcards and prints. ‘Peggy’ is offered here as an early period print of the published edition, framed under glass.
Provenance
Acquired in France.
Private Collection, Spain.
Condition Report
Colour lithograph on grey wove paper. The sheet is lightly toned with scattered pale spots and a small area of surface disturbance at the upper right; mounted and framed under glass, not examined out of the frame. Please contact us to request a detailed Condition Report.
Shipping
Packed as size M (up to 80 × 60 cm) · 62 × 45 cm framed
- Transport and packing ()
- €
- Made-to-measure wooden crate (works over 20,000 €)
- €
-
€ (the low estimate to start)
- + €
Insurance is optional. It follows the final hammer price, so with insurance the total moves with the bidding. The work is glazed, which the final quote may price differently. Indicative rates of our shipping partner MBE for packing and door-to-door transport; the final quote is confirmed after the sale. Import duties and taxes outside the EU are paid by the buyer.
We coordinate packing and shipping on your behalf, with insurance available if you’d like it — or you’re welcome to arrange your own. Please see our Shipping Information page for full details before completing your purchase.
Authenticity & Buyer Information
This lot is catalogued under the artist’s name without qualification. Provenance, dating and condition are described to the best of our knowledge; the sale is governed by our Conditions of Sale.
Buyers should review the catalogue carefully and raise any questions before bidding; additional information is not ordinarily provided after the auction.
Full Shipping Support
We coordinate professional, insured shipping worldwide, for auction and gallery purchases alike.
Expert-Curated Selection
Every lot is reviewed and vetted by our specialists before it reaches a sale.
Secure Payment
Pay by card for purchases up to €10,000, or by secure bank transfer for larger amounts.
Inquire about this lot
Have a question about this work?
Fill out the form below and our team will get back to you shortly.
What it costs
Bidding on this site, the buyer’s premium is 25%, Spanish IVA included. There is no VAT on the hammer price and no card fee.
| Starting price | Low estimate | High estimate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hammer price | €200 | €200 | €300 |
| Buyer’s premium 25% (IVA included) | €50 | €50 | €75 |
| Total on auroraathena.com | €250 | €250 | €375 |
| Total through a bidding platform (30%) | €260 | €260 | €390 |
Through LiveAuctioneers, Invaluable, Drouot or Bidspirit the premium is 30%: the same hammer of €300 costs €390 there against €375 here. Shipping and insurance are quoted separately; the estimator below gives the figure for your country. Buyers outside the EU pay no Spanish tax on the lot; the destination’s import rules apply (United States: original paintings and drawings enter duty-free; United Kingdom: 5% import VAT on art). Card payments are accepted up to €10,000; larger amounts by bank transfer.
Questions about this lot
How does the estimate compare with the artist’s recent auction results?
The estimate of €200–€300 is our opinion of the range this work should reach; the starting price of €200 is the lowest bid we accept. We have not published comparable results for this lot; ask us before the sale and we will send the results we based the estimate on.
What will this lot cost in total?
Bidding on this site, the buyer’s premium is 25%, Spanish IVA included, and there is no VAT on the hammer price and no card fee: at the starting price of €200 the total is €250; at the low estimate of €200 the total is €250; at the high estimate of €300 the total is €375.
Through LiveAuctioneers, Invaluable, Drouot or Bidspirit the premium is 30%, so the same hammer of €300 costs €390 there. Shipping and insurance are quoted separately; the estimator on this page gives the figure for your country. Buyers outside the EU pay no Spanish tax on the lot; the destination’s import rules apply (United States: original paintings and drawings enter duty-free; United Kingdom: 5% import VAT on art). Card payments are accepted up to €10,000; larger amounts by bank transfer.
How is this lot catalogued?
Under the artist’s name without qualification. Provenance, dating, condition and value are described to the best of our knowledge; the sale is governed by the Conditions of Sale.
Can I see the condition report, more photographs or the work itself?
A condition report with ultraviolet photographs is prepared on request, normally within two working days; the condition summary on this page is examined in-house and is not a conservator’s report. Further photographs of any detail, the reverse or the frame are sent on request. The work can be examined in our Barcelona showroom by appointment before the sale, and you are welcome to send your own conservator or specialist.
How does bidding work, and can a maximum bid make me overpay?
You can leave a maximum bid before the sale (the sale is on Saturday, November 28th - 17:00 (CET)) or bid live in our online room. A maximum bid is executed by the auctioneer only as much as is needed to stay ahead of other bidders, in the sale’s increments, never above your maximum.
Where a reserve exists it never exceeds the low estimate; a lot without a reserve sells to the highest bid at or above the starting price of €200.
Is there a limit on how much I can bid?
Every account is approved for bidding as soon as the e-mail address is confirmed, with a limit of €5,000 per bid until the identity is verified. The limit applies everywhere: in the live room, on the lot page and to maximum bids. To bid without a limit, verify your identity in your account on this site: it takes about three minutes on a phone, is done once, and the limit is lifted automatically as soon as the check is complete. Please do it at least an hour before the sale.
Philip Boileau
Philip Boileau was born in Quebec in 1864, the son of a French-Canadian diplomat and an American mother, and studied painting in Europe. He painted society portraits in Baltimore from 1897 and exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy in Philadelphia before settling in New York in 1902, where ‘Peggy’, a head-and-shoulders portrait of the actress Emily Gilbert, whom he later married, became his first commercial success in 1903. Within a few years the ‘Boileau girl’, a young woman with soft eyes, a cloud of hair and a hint of a smile, drawn in pastel and reproduced as postcards, calendars, prints and magazine covers, was the Edwardian ideal of pretty womanhood.
He painted 34 covers for the Saturday Evening Post between 1907 and his death, and his images, ‘Peggy’, ‘Sweetheart’, ‘Rings on her fingers’, ‘Chums’, were issued by Reinthal & Newman and other publishers in editions that ran into the millions.
Boileau died of pneumonia at his home at Douglas Manor, Long Island, in January 1917, at 52. His original pastels are rare; his signed prints and postcards are collected worldwide, and two monographs, Dorothy Ryan’s ‘Philip Boileau: Painter of Fair Women’ (1981) and Norman Platnick’s ‘Girl of My Dreams’, catalogue his published work.
Related Lots
What collectors say about us
“The description and photos of the artwork were accurate, and I felt confident in my purchase from the beginning. The team was quick to answer my questions and kept me well informed throughout the process.”
“I had a really good experience after the sale — it was smooth, asked a question and got an answer right away. Their customer service is excellent and very fast. Definitely recommend them.”