Decade 1800-1809
See also : George I-III Turner Spain II Ancient Spain Revolution and Empire Belgium II Early still life Imperial seal Jadeite Mechanical craft ca 1800 Jaquet-Droz and followers French time pieces Historical arms Blade and armour Firearms II Sciences Sciences from 1800 Illustrators
early Jiaqing pair of Jadeite Seals
2010 SOLD for HK$ 79M by Sotheby's
The Jiaqing emperor succeeded his father Qianlong in 1796 CE. In terms of jade seals, he innovated early in his reign by having made three small sets in jadeite instead of the usual nephrite. The inscriptions of his seals often include his name.
A pair of large 7.1 cm square seals was sold by Sotheby's on October 7, 2010 for HK $ 79M from a lower estimate of HK $ 8M, lot 2102. The archives of the Jiaqing reign confirm that they were originally housed in the same case.
They respectively read Jiaqing yubi zhibao and jiaqing yulan zhibao meaning Treasure from the hand of the Jiaqing emperor and Treasure for the viewing pleasure of the Jiaqing emperor.
Their jadeite is transparent and lustrous, their green varying from dark to light with patches of white. Each button is made of an intertwined pair of carved and incised dragons with a detailed expression including bulging eyes and sharp fangs.
A pair of large 7.1 cm square seals was sold by Sotheby's on October 7, 2010 for HK $ 79M from a lower estimate of HK $ 8M, lot 2102. The archives of the Jiaqing reign confirm that they were originally housed in the same case.
They respectively read Jiaqing yubi zhibao and jiaqing yulan zhibao meaning Treasure from the hand of the Jiaqing emperor and Treasure for the viewing pleasure of the Jiaqing emperor.
Their jadeite is transparent and lustrous, their green varying from dark to light with patches of white. Each button is made of an intertwined pair of carved and incised dragons with a detailed expression including bulging eyes and sharp fangs.
1800 The Marengo Sabre of Napoléon
2007 SOLD for € 4.8M including premium by Osenat
narrated in 2020
The Battle of Marengo takes place on June 14, 1800, 25 Prairial an VIII of the Revolutionary Calendar. The First Consul, Napoléon Bonaparte, leads the Italian campaign. The battle begins with a surprise attack by the Austrians. Bonaparte understands the gravity of the situation and provides the necessary assistance to his endangered army. His action is spectacular and decisive, providing France with the final victory in that war.
Bonaparte immediately understood the advantage of this feat of arms for his personal prestige and for his political future. On May 5, 1805 Bonaparte, who had become Emperor Napoléon I in the meantime, had a throne installed for a military parade on the battlefield. He presides over this ceremony, dressed in the same way as on the day of the battle.
Also in 1805, Napoléon presented his youngest brother Jérôme with the glorious sabre which he had brandished at Marengo. Jérôme, 20 years old, had just returned from the United States where he had married, thwarting the ambition that the emperor could have for him. Napoléon broke this marriage by an imperial decree on March 11, 1805. Having henceforth consolidated his image of a magnificent warrior, he may have used this arm to encourage Jérôme's new military career in his service.
The sabre remained until 2007 with the descendants of Jérôme. Classified as a French monument historique in 1978, it was sold for € 4.8M including premium by Osenat on June 10, 2007. Please watch the video shared by Interencheres.
This arm had been produced by Nicolas-Noël Boutet, the manager of the arms factory in Versailles. The blade has an oriental shape and is decorated with etching. The main fittings for the sabre and its scabbard are in solid gold. The pommel is a Jupiter head in gold.
Bonaparte immediately understood the advantage of this feat of arms for his personal prestige and for his political future. On May 5, 1805 Bonaparte, who had become Emperor Napoléon I in the meantime, had a throne installed for a military parade on the battlefield. He presides over this ceremony, dressed in the same way as on the day of the battle.
Also in 1805, Napoléon presented his youngest brother Jérôme with the glorious sabre which he had brandished at Marengo. Jérôme, 20 years old, had just returned from the United States where he had married, thwarting the ambition that the emperor could have for him. Napoléon broke this marriage by an imperial decree on March 11, 1805. Having henceforth consolidated his image of a magnificent warrior, he may have used this arm to encourage Jérôme's new military career in his service.
The sabre remained until 2007 with the descendants of Jérôme. Classified as a French monument historique in 1978, it was sold for € 4.8M including premium by Osenat on June 10, 2007. Please watch the video shared by Interencheres.
This arm had been produced by Nicolas-Noël Boutet, the manager of the arms factory in Versailles. The blade has an oriental shape and is decorated with etching. The main fittings for the sabre and its scabbard are in solid gold. The pommel is a Jupiter head in gold.
1800 Breguet at the Time of the Marie-Antoinette
2016 SOLD for CHF 3.25M including premium
Watch lovers have always enjoyed the instruments of the utmost complexity. In 1783, one of them commissions to Breguet a montre de gousset (pocket watch) with all the complications including among several others the perpetual calendar, chronograph, minute repeater, reserve power indicator and chime.
This enthusiast who played for Breguet a similar role as Graves with Patek Philippe 150 years later was probably the Count Fersen known as a fervent admirer of the Queen of France and the watch was named the Marie-Antoinette. It was completed in 1827, four years after the death of Abraham-Louis Breguet.
Breguet was the most skilful watchmaker of his time and the Marie-Antoinette could be used as a kind of prototype. On May 16 in Geneva, Christie's offers a high complication watch sold new in 1800 of our calendar (An VIII of the Republican calendar) to General Moreau. It is estimated CHF 600K, lot 123.
This pocket watch 55 mm in diameter has the serial number No. 217 of the brand. It is the only example beside the Marie-Antoinette to offer in the same case the perpetual motion and the equation of time.
The perpétuelle is a self winding mechanism with an oscillating weight offering 60 hours of autonomy from the effect of moderate movements of the user, with a protection against shocks on horseback. The equation of time is a correction of the difference between standard and solar times which can reach up to 16 minutes.
This piece does not include the technique of the tourbillon invented by Breguet in 1801. The steadiness is ensured by the échappement libre à ancre (lever escapement), another difficulty that only Breguet knew to overcome.
General Moreau died in the battle of Dresden in 1813. Breguet reacquired the 217 and modernized the dial before selling it in 1817 to Charles-Louis Havas, the financier who became famous for opening in Paris in 1832 the first ever newspaper translation business which became in 1835 his Havas Agency.
This enthusiast who played for Breguet a similar role as Graves with Patek Philippe 150 years later was probably the Count Fersen known as a fervent admirer of the Queen of France and the watch was named the Marie-Antoinette. It was completed in 1827, four years after the death of Abraham-Louis Breguet.
Breguet was the most skilful watchmaker of his time and the Marie-Antoinette could be used as a kind of prototype. On May 16 in Geneva, Christie's offers a high complication watch sold new in 1800 of our calendar (An VIII of the Republican calendar) to General Moreau. It is estimated CHF 600K, lot 123.
This pocket watch 55 mm in diameter has the serial number No. 217 of the brand. It is the only example beside the Marie-Antoinette to offer in the same case the perpetual motion and the equation of time.
The perpétuelle is a self winding mechanism with an oscillating weight offering 60 hours of autonomy from the effect of moderate movements of the user, with a protection against shocks on horseback. The equation of time is a correction of the difference between standard and solar times which can reach up to 16 minutes.
This piece does not include the technique of the tourbillon invented by Breguet in 1801. The steadiness is ensured by the échappement libre à ancre (lever escapement), another difficulty that only Breguet knew to overcome.
General Moreau died in the battle of Dresden in 1813. Breguet reacquired the 217 and modernized the dial before selling it in 1817 to Charles-Louis Havas, the financier who became famous for opening in Paris in 1832 the first ever newspaper translation business which became in 1835 his Havas Agency.
La montre du fondateur de l'AFP mise aux enchères le 16 mai à #Genève https://t.co/SwAls5tk1C #Montres pic.twitter.com/hJFRif0dqp
— Christie's Paris (@christiesparis) April 8, 2016
1802-1816 Les Liliacées by Redouté
1985 SOLD for $ 5.5M including premiumby Sotheby's
narrated in 2020
Specializing in botanical watercolors, the Belgian artist Pierre-Joseph Redouté comes to Versailles in 1788 for his career after training in the Royal gardens of Kew. From 1800 he contributes by his drawings to the reissue of the Traité des Arbres et Arbustes by Duhamel du Monceau and from 1798 he is the favorite artist of the future empress Joséphine.
His direct commitment to botany takes place in two phases : 486 watercolors on vellum on Liliaceae from 1802 to 1816 followed by 168 Roses from 1817 to 1824. His scientifically accurate drawings are taken from life in the gardens of La Malmaison, Saint-Cloud, Versailles and Sèvres.
All the watercolors of the Liliacées, bound in 16 volumes 48 x 35 cm for a total weight of nearly 150 kg, were originally entrusted to Joséphine's library in La Malmaison.
The lot was sold on November 20, 1985 for $ 5.5M including premium by Sotheby's after a sensational opening bid of $ 5M, the highest at that time in an art sale.
The buyer was a young dealer of rare books and prints named W. Graham Arader, who immediately made him known. To carry out this operation, he had created a syndicate of clients. Each share gave the right to own four watercolors, some were still available and he kept 30% of the whole. He had been the only bidder but according to his statements gathered by the New York Times he was covered up to $ 20M.
The pieces were chosen in turn by Arader's clients according to a priority determined by a draw. Arader has not disclosed the names of his shareholders. Steve Jobs was probably one of them.
On October 10, 2020 Arader Galleries sold several Liliacées watercolors. The two top lots were sold for $ 530K each, including premium : cultivated pineapple, plate 456, lot 91, and banana, plate 444, lot 90, both linked here on LiveAuctioneers bidding platform.
His direct commitment to botany takes place in two phases : 486 watercolors on vellum on Liliaceae from 1802 to 1816 followed by 168 Roses from 1817 to 1824. His scientifically accurate drawings are taken from life in the gardens of La Malmaison, Saint-Cloud, Versailles and Sèvres.
All the watercolors of the Liliacées, bound in 16 volumes 48 x 35 cm for a total weight of nearly 150 kg, were originally entrusted to Joséphine's library in La Malmaison.
The lot was sold on November 20, 1985 for $ 5.5M including premium by Sotheby's after a sensational opening bid of $ 5M, the highest at that time in an art sale.
The buyer was a young dealer of rare books and prints named W. Graham Arader, who immediately made him known. To carry out this operation, he had created a syndicate of clients. Each share gave the right to own four watercolors, some were still available and he kept 30% of the whole. He had been the only bidder but according to his statements gathered by the New York Times he was covered up to $ 20M.
The pieces were chosen in turn by Arader's clients according to a priority determined by a draw. Arader has not disclosed the names of his shareholders. Steve Jobs was probably one of them.
On October 10, 2020 Arader Galleries sold several Liliacées watercolors. The two top lots were sold for $ 530K each, including premium : cultivated pineapple, plate 456, lot 91, and banana, plate 444, lot 90, both linked here on LiveAuctioneers bidding platform.
1805 the Barruso portraits by Goya
2023 SOLD for $ 16.4M by Christie's
The burguesia is emerging at the turn of the 19th century. The wealthy bourgeois desire to live like new aristocrats.
Francisco Goya was appointed in 1789 First Court painter to the King. From 1804 he accepts bourgeois sitters for his business. Don Salvador Barruso was a textile merchant involved with the Royal Factories at Talavera.
Don Salvador commissions to Goya in 1805 the portraits of his wife and daughter, which are executed as a pair of oils on canvas of same size, 105 x 84 cm.
It is usual in such pairs to attribute the left picture to the most important character. Here the left is the still childish Maria, nearly fifteen year old. Both are seated, and dressed in the French high waisted fashion of that time. Maria has on her lap a pet bichon dog, a symbol of fidelity. Under the protection of her mother, she is featured as ready for wedding. She will marry two years later and die after childbirth in 1810.
The scarcity of this pair is the featuring of a mother and daughter as pendants, but it is remarkable by the extreme skill of Goya, rightly considered at that time as a worthy successor to Raphael.
The tightly woven canvas was smoothed with a bright brick colored primer enabling to paint in very thin layers. No underdrawing is revealed in infra red reflectography. A painted sketch had dried before the final layer was applied. The surface is remaining pristine.
Fortunately the pair has not been separated. It was sold for $ 16.4M by Christie's on January 25, 2023, lot 138.
Francisco Goya was appointed in 1789 First Court painter to the King. From 1804 he accepts bourgeois sitters for his business. Don Salvador Barruso was a textile merchant involved with the Royal Factories at Talavera.
Don Salvador commissions to Goya in 1805 the portraits of his wife and daughter, which are executed as a pair of oils on canvas of same size, 105 x 84 cm.
It is usual in such pairs to attribute the left picture to the most important character. Here the left is the still childish Maria, nearly fifteen year old. Both are seated, and dressed in the French high waisted fashion of that time. Maria has on her lap a pet bichon dog, a symbol of fidelity. Under the protection of her mother, she is featured as ready for wedding. She will marry two years later and die after childbirth in 1810.
The scarcity of this pair is the featuring of a mother and daughter as pendants, but it is remarkable by the extreme skill of Goya, rightly considered at that time as a worthy successor to Raphael.
The tightly woven canvas was smoothed with a bright brick colored primer enabling to paint in very thin layers. No underdrawing is revealed in infra red reflectography. A painted sketch had dried before the final layer was applied. The surface is remaining pristine.
Fortunately the pair has not been separated. It was sold for $ 16.4M by Christie's on January 25, 2023, lot 138.
1805 Amphora by Piguet et Capt
2002 SOLD for CHF 4M (worth at that time US $ 2.4M) by Antiquorum
From 1802 to 1811 in Geneva, Piguet et Capt is the association of two mechanical craftsmen. A specialist in automata, Henry Capt had worked with Jaquet-Droz. He continued as an independent while his brother-in-law Daniel Isaac Piguet joined forces with Philippe Samuel Meylan.
The specialty of Piguet et Capt was the combination of miniature watches, automatons and music in jewelled structures of the greatest luxury, abundantly decorated with pearls and enamels. The shapes are varied : rings, snuff boxes, fans, shields.
On April 13, 2002, Antiquorum sold as lot 607 for CHF 4M worth at that time $ 2.4M a 10 cm high amphora attributed to Piguet et Capt. It had been one from a pair whose enamel panels are reversed from one another. Only one other pair is known and no single. They are not signed.
These exquisite musical gold pieces were made circa 1805 for the Chinese market, with an abundance of pearls. The upper part, between the top of the handles, is centered by two dials and an opening onto the mechanism. Note that skeleton watches were also a specialty of Meylan.
The belly of the amphora is painted in enamel of a mother and child in the style of Vigée-Le Brun. This small panel tilts forward to reveal a double-movement musical automaton in front of a pastoral background : a boy bounces a dog, and a young woman plays the guitar. The backside is decorated with a pastoral river scene on the lower panel and a dove in a flower basket on the upper panel.
This piece was later sold for HK $ 12.3M by Christie's on May 22, 2021, lot 2505. Its twin element had been sold for CHF 910K by Antiquorum on March 31, 2001, lot 47.
The other pair of amphora shaped gold watches from the same model is decorated with a scene of Helen and Paris while the automaton displays a pastoral scene with a girl and a cherub playing lyre and drums. The back side enamel decoration is floral in the lower panel and has a putto riding a swan in the upper panel.
An element of that pair was sold for CHF 560K by Antiquorum on April 22, 1995, lot 501. Recently discovered, its twin with the mirror images is for sale by Christie's on November 27, 2021, lot 2505.
The specialty of Piguet et Capt was the combination of miniature watches, automatons and music in jewelled structures of the greatest luxury, abundantly decorated with pearls and enamels. The shapes are varied : rings, snuff boxes, fans, shields.
On April 13, 2002, Antiquorum sold as lot 607 for CHF 4M worth at that time $ 2.4M a 10 cm high amphora attributed to Piguet et Capt. It had been one from a pair whose enamel panels are reversed from one another. Only one other pair is known and no single. They are not signed.
These exquisite musical gold pieces were made circa 1805 for the Chinese market, with an abundance of pearls. The upper part, between the top of the handles, is centered by two dials and an opening onto the mechanism. Note that skeleton watches were also a specialty of Meylan.
The belly of the amphora is painted in enamel of a mother and child in the style of Vigée-Le Brun. This small panel tilts forward to reveal a double-movement musical automaton in front of a pastoral background : a boy bounces a dog, and a young woman plays the guitar. The backside is decorated with a pastoral river scene on the lower panel and a dove in a flower basket on the upper panel.
This piece was later sold for HK $ 12.3M by Christie's on May 22, 2021, lot 2505. Its twin element had been sold for CHF 910K by Antiquorum on March 31, 2001, lot 47.
The other pair of amphora shaped gold watches from the same model is decorated with a scene of Helen and Paris while the automaton displays a pastoral scene with a girl and a cherub playing lyre and drums. The back side enamel decoration is floral in the lower panel and has a putto riding a swan in the upper panel.
An element of that pair was sold for CHF 560K by Antiquorum on April 22, 1995, lot 501. Recently discovered, its twin with the mirror images is for sale by Christie's on November 27, 2021, lot 2505.
TURNER
1
1806 Walton Bridges
2018 SOLD for £ 3.4M by Sotheby's
Joseph Mallord William Turner organizes his career. He opens a gallery in London in 1804 but he no longer wants to live in the big city. He explores the banks of the Thames whose views had enchanted his childhood and settles in Isleworth, ten miles upstream from London, where the River Crane empties into the Thames.
He takes out his sketchbook, as he had done during his tour of Europe. He likes to have his easel on his boat and his influence on Monet will be undeniable.
This region has a nice artistic tradition. The Walton Bridge, painted by Canaletto in 1754, was made of wood. It was replaced in 1788 by a double bridge in stone and brick that spans the river and the marshy bank, but the site has retained its romantic aspect.
Turner paints around 1806 two large oils on canvas 93 x 124 cm of Walton Bridges. One of them shows the bridges in full front with shepherds and their flocks in the foreground, in the signature style of Turner's animated views, more idyllic than Canaletto's. It is kept at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.
The other shows the two parts of the bridge in their whole length, slightly at an angle, behind a foreground of cattle wading in the river, in a beautiful sunset light. It was sold for £ 3.4M by Sotheby's on July 4, 2018, lot 21.
Turner will not forget this enchanted bridge. Forty years later, he integrates it into an Italianate landscape, in the pre-impressionist light of his late career. This 88 x 118 cm oil on canvas was sold by Sotheby's in 2019.
He takes out his sketchbook, as he had done during his tour of Europe. He likes to have his easel on his boat and his influence on Monet will be undeniable.
This region has a nice artistic tradition. The Walton Bridge, painted by Canaletto in 1754, was made of wood. It was replaced in 1788 by a double bridge in stone and brick that spans the river and the marshy bank, but the site has retained its romantic aspect.
Turner paints around 1806 two large oils on canvas 93 x 124 cm of Walton Bridges. One of them shows the bridges in full front with shepherds and their flocks in the foreground, in the signature style of Turner's animated views, more idyllic than Canaletto's. It is kept at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.
The other shows the two parts of the bridge in their whole length, slightly at an angle, behind a foreground of cattle wading in the river, in a beautiful sunset light. It was sold for £ 3.4M by Sotheby's on July 4, 2018, lot 21.
Turner will not forget this enchanted bridge. Forty years later, he integrates it into an Italianate landscape, in the pre-impressionist light of his late career. This 88 x 118 cm oil on canvas was sold by Sotheby's in 2019.
2
1808 Pope's Villa at Twickenham
2008 SOLD for £ 5.4M by Sotheby's
The young Turner is a great admirer of poets, whom he wishes to equal with his graphic art. He specializes in landscapes. Following the example of Le Lorrain, he assembles from 1807 a set of studies which will serve as models for his later work and for the prints.
Turner wants to express the deep truth of nature. He explores the Thames and buys a piece of land at Twickenham in 1807. He builds there from 1812 his personal lodge according to his own taste.
A century earlier, Twickenham was the home of wealthy Londoners who wanted to escape the city. In 1719 the poet Alexander Pope had built an opulent three-story Palladian villa on the banks of the Thames, and his garden was designed to shelter the Muses.
Baroness Howe of Langar bought this estate in 1807. The memory of Pope was still attracting many visitors. To protect her peace of living, she has the villa destroyed. Of course Turner is deeply frustrated and irritated by this decision which diminishes the touristic attraction of this village which he had just chosen for himself.
The view of the Pope villa by Turner is an oil on canvas 92 x 123 cm painted in 1808. Already aiming to match the brightness of the watercolors, he had coated the canvas with a white primer.
The scene is pastoral, with small quiet figures, a young couple of shepherds, a few sheep, in the beautiful light of an autumn evening. A group of workmen discuss architectural fragments. Beyond the river, the building is the symbol of the ephemeral character of human achievements : it has already lost its roof and the windows are gaping.
He exhibited it in his gallery in London, which he has been using since 1804 to attract customers and art critics. The success of this work which expresses a poetic sensitivity with a high quality of execution is considerable. At 33, recently elected as Professor of Perspective at the Royal Academy, he is recognized by Thomas Lawrence as the best landscape painter of his time.
This painting was sold for £ 5.4M by Sotheby's on July 9, 2008, lot 91, and for $ 4.6M by Christie's on January 25, 2023, lot 153. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Turner wants to express the deep truth of nature. He explores the Thames and buys a piece of land at Twickenham in 1807. He builds there from 1812 his personal lodge according to his own taste.
A century earlier, Twickenham was the home of wealthy Londoners who wanted to escape the city. In 1719 the poet Alexander Pope had built an opulent three-story Palladian villa on the banks of the Thames, and his garden was designed to shelter the Muses.
Baroness Howe of Langar bought this estate in 1807. The memory of Pope was still attracting many visitors. To protect her peace of living, she has the villa destroyed. Of course Turner is deeply frustrated and irritated by this decision which diminishes the touristic attraction of this village which he had just chosen for himself.
The view of the Pope villa by Turner is an oil on canvas 92 x 123 cm painted in 1808. Already aiming to match the brightness of the watercolors, he had coated the canvas with a white primer.
The scene is pastoral, with small quiet figures, a young couple of shepherds, a few sheep, in the beautiful light of an autumn evening. A group of workmen discuss architectural fragments. Beyond the river, the building is the symbol of the ephemeral character of human achievements : it has already lost its roof and the windows are gaping.
He exhibited it in his gallery in London, which he has been using since 1804 to attract customers and art critics. The success of this work which expresses a poetic sensitivity with a high quality of execution is considerable. At 33, recently elected as Professor of Perspective at the Royal Academy, he is recognized by Thomas Lawrence as the best landscape painter of his time.
This painting was sold for £ 5.4M by Sotheby's on July 9, 2008, lot 91, and for $ 4.6M by Christie's on January 25, 2023, lot 153. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
3
1808 Thames Estuary
2021 SOLD for £ 4.8M by Sotheby's
J.M.W. Turner, who was a keen sailor, early had the ambition to become a marine painter. Appealed by the violence of the sea, he added a romantic touch to the style of his predecessors. In 1796 Fishermen at sea is the first oil painting exhibited by him at the Royal Academy. It displays fishermen in peril under a dramatic moon light. He was 21 years old.
The Thames estuary is a few miles downstream his home. In 1806 his Victory returning from Trafalgar is staged in a quiet sea. From 1807 to 1809 he executes seven paintings on the estuary under the storm, viewed in various locations of the shore.
On July 7, 2021, Sotheby's sold for £ 4.8M an oil on canvas 90 x 120 cm painted in 1808, lot 50. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's. It is located at Purfleet with the Essex shore as seen from Long Reach. This painting had been immediately bought by the 5th earl of Essex who was an important patron of Turner at that time when he managed to become independent from the Royal Academy.
In a rough sea under a stormy sky, the boats ranging from fishing barges to warships are cleverly dispositioned from foreground to horizon, providing a fair rendition of distance.
The Thames estuary is a few miles downstream his home. In 1806 his Victory returning from Trafalgar is staged in a quiet sea. From 1807 to 1809 he executes seven paintings on the estuary under the storm, viewed in various locations of the shore.
On July 7, 2021, Sotheby's sold for £ 4.8M an oil on canvas 90 x 120 cm painted in 1808, lot 50. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's. It is located at Purfleet with the Essex shore as seen from Long Reach. This painting had been immediately bought by the 5th earl of Essex who was an important patron of Turner at that time when he managed to become independent from the Royal Academy.
In a rough sea under a stormy sky, the boats ranging from fishing barges to warships are cleverly dispositioned from foreground to horizon, providing a fair rendition of distance.
#AuctionUpdate: J.M.W. Turner’s magnificent early seascape - Purfleet and the Essex Shore as seen from Long Reach - achieves £4.8m in its first appearance on the market in over 75 years. Created in 1808, the work was the star lot of today’s #London Old Master Evening sale. pic.twitter.com/EKMVsjvcHS
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) July 7, 2021
1808-1812 Dead Hares by Goya
2003 SOLD for $ 5.1M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
In 1808 the outbreak of the war of independence against the French invader had a major impact on the life and art of Goya. His Disasters of War are the most atrocious images in the history of art.
At 62, the artist no longer needs his art to earn a living and, in these difficult circumstances, he has fewer clients. He had a bulimia of innovations throughout his life. He is trying the theme of still life for the first time in his career.
The twelve still lifes painted by Goya surfaced after 1865. They had remained grouped together in the artist's estate and then in a mortgage which had ended in a transfer in favor of a business partner of Mariano, the grandson of the artist.
Goya had attempted in this set to completely renew the theme of still life. Dead animals are no longer decorative objects or hunting trophies, but beings whose lives have been violently taken by humans for culinary purposes. The beginning of the war is the terminus post quem. The terminus ante quem is their reference in an inventory in 1812.
Goya used the best of his pictorial technique, combining veils of color and heavy impastos, placed with brushes, knife and fingers. The animals are different on each opus. The realistic flesh ready for decomposition attests to the importance of death in the artist's creativity.
On January 24, 2003 Christie's sold at lot 136 for $ 5.1M including premium an oil on canvas 45 x 63 cm showing two dead hares lying on top of each other on a table.
At 62, the artist no longer needs his art to earn a living and, in these difficult circumstances, he has fewer clients. He had a bulimia of innovations throughout his life. He is trying the theme of still life for the first time in his career.
The twelve still lifes painted by Goya surfaced after 1865. They had remained grouped together in the artist's estate and then in a mortgage which had ended in a transfer in favor of a business partner of Mariano, the grandson of the artist.
Goya had attempted in this set to completely renew the theme of still life. Dead animals are no longer decorative objects or hunting trophies, but beings whose lives have been violently taken by humans for culinary purposes. The beginning of the war is the terminus post quem. The terminus ante quem is their reference in an inventory in 1812.
Goya used the best of his pictorial technique, combining veils of color and heavy impastos, placed with brushes, knife and fingers. The animals are different on each opus. The realistic flesh ready for decomposition attests to the importance of death in the artist's creativity.
On January 24, 2003 Christie's sold at lot 136 for $ 5.1M including premium an oil on canvas 45 x 63 cm showing two dead hares lying on top of each other on a table.
