PARIS.- Artcurial’s Old Master & 19th century art department will host its prestigious second semester auction for the second half of 2018, on 13th November, during the Paris Fine Arts Fair. It gathers 120 lots, for a total estimate of more than 4 M€.
« We are very pleased to once again present new discoveries, including the large canvas version of Portrait of Charles Perrault by Charles Le Brun, recovered thanks to the re-appearance of the pastel of the writer by Le Brun, pre-empted by the Chateau de Versailles museum during our auction on 21 March. » --Matthieu Fournier, Director Old Master & 19th century art, Artcurial.
A selection of works will be presented in Artcurial’s Brussels office from 23rd to 25th October 2018.
Renaissance: first trompe l’oeil and rare portrait of Charles Quint
Northern countries Renaissance art is represented by two extremely rare paintings. The first, Composition au livre ouvert, is an oil on panel created in the Netherlands in the sixteenth century (estimate: €50,000 - 80,000). This surprising representation of an open book on a dark neutral background belongs to a series of similar paintings which have not yet revealed all their mysteries to art historians. These works are among the first recorded examples of trompe-l’oeil in the body of emerging still-life.
The second painting is attributed to Jan Cornelisz. Vermeyen (1504-1559). Portrait de l’empereur Charles Quint, painted on panel (Estimate : €120,000 - 150,000). On this effigy dating from 1530, the emperor Charles of Hapsburg is represented with a subtle balance of pageantry and simplicity. Dressed in a richly embroidered blue doublet, he wears the necklace of the order of the Golden Fleece, facilitating identification as easily as the famous Habsburg protruding chin. Completely new to the market and coming to us in an exceptional state of conservation, this portrait of Charles Quint is one of the most beautiful and interesting versions of official effigies by Jan Cornelisz. Vermeyen, painter of Marguerite of Austria’s court.
Rediscovery of the official portrait of Charles Perrault by Charles Le Brun, lost since 1672
After the rediscovery of the pastel portrait of Charles Perrault by Charles Le Brun (1619-1690), which joined the Chateau de Versailles museum collection following the 21st March 2018 Artcurial auction, it yet again reappears in its larger version on canvas, as mentioned in the writer’s 1672 inventory and vanished since then. Estimated at 500 pounds, it was, by far, the most expensive painting mentioned in the inventory.
Charles Perrault, appointed Secretary of the Petite Academie in 1663, the body responsible of the Sun King’s artistic and literary policy, collaborated closely with Charles Le Brun, the king’s Premier Painter. The two men were held by ties of great esteem and friendship.
Le Brun here represents Perrault in a three-quarter position, in the richly embroidered black suit of the Kings’Advisor. The writer stands before a library containing volumes whose author’s names symbolize both classical culture (Homer, Virgil, Cicero) and knowledge of the major Italian Renaissance architectural treaties (Serlio, Vignola, Scamozzi, Palladio, Vitruvius). In response to these prestigious references, Le Brun depicted the works of the great poet Horace in Perrault’s hand; under this book, the plans of the King’s recently completed apartments in Versailles and of the Paris Observatory, built by Claude Perrault in 1667. A compass, a lute peg box and the marble head of a satyr complement these attributes, stressing Charles Perrault’s predilection and knowledge in all art forms.
We note the lower right corner of a painting in the background. This is a Nicolas Poussin canvas, Moïse foulant aux pieds la couronne de Pharaon. The admiration of Louis XIV’s court painter for Poussin and the influence that he exerts on his painting, his research and reflections on art are undeniable. This “mise-enabime” is simultaneously a subtle tribute from Le Brun to his master and the affirmation of the supremacy of Ideal Beauty on the strict observation of nature, in idea shared by the painter and his model. Le Portrait de Charles Perrault by Charles Le Brun carries an estimate of €150,000 - 200,000.
Another rediscovery, this rare and amusing painting by Guercino (1591-1666) representing A small dog playing in front of a molosse (estimate: €150,000- 200,000): this is the third listed animal painting by Guercino and the only one representing two on the same composition. The Bolognese master plays with the two contrasting personalities of the dogs. In front of an imposing heavyweight dog wearing a studded collar, a small spaniel adorned with ribbons around his neck happily hops around.
18th century: Oudry and Desportes, masters of animal painting
Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755) competes with François Desportes for the excellence of his animal paintings and hunting scenes. After entering the Royal Academy in 1719, he becomes official painter of the Royal Hunts in 1724.
The painting presented here, Chien blanc pointant une perdrix rouge, dated 1725 (estimate: €150,000 - 200,000). Oudry gives little attention to the landscape in which he places the animal. The selected point of view gives all its majesty to the dog and allows to think that the composition was intended to be placed above a door. The theme will be used again in a Beauvais tapestry, manufacture for which he creates cartoons from 1726 and where he will be appointed Director in 1734.
François Desportes (1661 - 1743) is received at the Royal Academy in 1699 with his Autoportrait en chasseur, today at the Museum of the Louvre. In 1700, he decorates the royal menagerie for Louis XIV before being appointed painter of its venery. He participates in every hunt, draws the Versailles Kennel dogs and creates eight major compositions on the subject of hunting for the Manufacture des Gobelins. L’hallali du sanglier is part of a series of four paintings painted for the Paris brothers, four financial siblings close to Madame de Pompadour. This canvas is comparable by its format (232 x 181 cm), its movement and subject to La Chasse aux Loups in Rennes, at the Musée des Beaux-Arts. In it, Desportes demonstrates his talent in representing fur and muscles in an impressive layout, painting a true piece of nature and wild ferocity with accuracy. L’hallali du sanglier, estimate €180,000 - 220,000
19th century: Géricault and Gérôme
Théodore Géricault (1791-1824) painted this Étalon arabe effrayé par deux fauves upon his return from England in the early 1820’s, following a trip during which his was stricken by cross-Channel art. This painting shows the most eminent characters of Théodore Géricault, instigator of the pictorial romanticism in France as a result of Baron Gros. This freedom of touch, so close to his heart is particularly noticeable here, as visible in the shiny coat of the horse and in the background, the bark of the tree or the lionesses, all constituting a valuable testimony that make up the artist’s singularity, modernity and reputation. In the midst of clever allusive language, the artist manifests in this work the revival of painting, swept away since the end of the eighteenth century in imperial neoclassicism, led by Jacques-Louis David. The horse, eminently classic and prestigious animal, appears to be frightened by the two beasts barely suggested in the dark background of the canvas. This almost Flemish representation of the lionesses reads as an indirect tribute to artist Pierre-Paul Rubens and his «drunk brush». In a context where the historic quarrel between colour and drawing resurfaced, this Géricault piece resonates as an allegiance to colour and to this new paint style for which he was the most brilliant representative. Etalon arabe effrayé par deux fauves, estimate €600,000 - 800,000.
Recently rediscovered, this attractive small painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904) entitled Les deux majestés is an absolute treasure. In a very lively style, with rich material and vibrant colours, it is presented on its original canvas and was a gift from the artist to his daughter Suzanne. The modest format of this canvas (25 x 44 cm) does not detract from the greatness of its subject: in a sober landscape extending into the horizon, two of nature’s majesties gaze at each other. A powerful lion, emblematic animal of Gérôme’s body of work, is sitting in front of the setting sun. This subject was imagined by the painter in 1883 in a larger canvas kept in the Milwaukee Museum. The strength of this representation, the freedom of the brush and the points of pure colour make this painting valuable and exceptional in Gérôme’s body of work. Les deux Majestés carries an estimate of €200,000 - 300,000.
In closing, the nineteenth century is represented by a painting by Jean Béraud (1849-1935), La modiste sur les Champs-Elysées, which concentrates all the spirit Belle-Époque Paris through this photograph of the most famous avenue of the world, populated by elegant figures and horse-drawn carriages (estimate: €100,000 -150,000).
