Fragonard hails from Grasse: painting sold for €10.6m

Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s painting “L’Instant désiré” (also known as “The Happy Lovers”) was hammered down at Christie’s in Paris on 23 September 2026 for €10.6m. The pre-sale estimate was around €3m. The artist himself was from Grasse, and the house where he lived still stands in the town.

What was sold

The canvas was painted around 1770 in oil on canvas, measuring 49.5 × 60.5 cm. It depicts a young man and woman kissing on a bed: a typical gallant Rococo subject. The painting was part of the collection of Graziella Patiño de Ortiz Linares, which Christie’s was selling off in Paris. The buyer’s name has not been disclosed. Details — on ICI and in The Art Newspaper.

Fragonard and Grasse

The painter was born in Grasse in 1732 into a family involved in the glove and perfumery trades, and went to Paris as a child. He returned during the years of the Revolution: in 1790–1791 he lived in Grasse in the house of his cousin, the perfume merchant Alexandre Maubert.

The house that can be seen

Today it is the Villa-musée Jean-Honoré Fragonard (Fragonard Boulevard, 23). The villa’s staircase is decorated with a trompe-l’œil painting the artist made during his stay in Grasse in 1791. An account of the villa is on the Grasse museums website; it’s best to check opening hours there. For the city’s gastronomic side, see our piece on the culinary heritage of Grasse.

In the photo — the Villa-musée Fragonard in Grasse, not the painting that was sold.

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Photo: remi.mahel / Wikimedia Commons