from Louis XVIII to Second Empire
See also : Ancient French painting Children Orientalism Horse Literature Literature in French Silverware Time instruments Clocks Mechanical craft ca 1800 Arms Ancient arms Firearms II
Chronology : 1810-1819 1820-1829 1830-1839 1840-1849 1850-1859 1860-1869
Chronology : 1810-1819 1820-1829 1830-1839 1840-1849 1850-1859 1860-1869
1818 Portrait of the DeDreux Children by Géricault
2009 SOLD 9 M€ including premium by Christie's
Link to catalogue.
Liliane Bettencourt’s Art Collection May Rival YSL’s https://t.co/iyJx6cqnxb pic.twitter.com/ESwxTX4PZE
— Art Market Monitor (@artmarket) September 21, 2017
1820 Portrait of Ramel de Nogaret by David
2008 SOLD for $ 7.2M including premium by Christie's
Link to catalogue.
1821-1824 The Table Service of the Grand Duchess of Baden
2008 SOLD 1.9 M$ including premium
The fall of Napoleon in 1815 did not immediately led to the end of the influence of the Bonaparte family and its allies in Europe. With 1 million inhabitants, the Duchy of Baden was governed by the Grand Duke, from the family of the former Electors of that German province, and his wife Stephanie de Beauharnais.
In parallel, the silversmith Odiot, who had provided regularly some silverware to the Imperials, continued to work after 1815 for this family scattered throughout Europe.
77 pieces of the table service provided by Odiot to the Grand Duchess through several orders between 1821 and 1824 have remained together, and constitute the lot 106 of the sale of Sotheby's in New York on November 6. The total weight of silver is 90 Kg
These pieces of silverware (a soup tureen weighing 9 kg, cups, salts, dishes and plates) are decorated with sirens, putti, grapes and laurels, according to models available in the catalog of Odiot since 1806. All parts are marked with the arms of the Grand Duchy of Baden.
The estimated price of this exceptional lot is $ 2 million.
POST SALE COMMENT
I consider this result as very good: $ 1.9 million including expenses. The lower estimate has not been reached, but it was not easy to predict the price of such a package.
In parallel, the silversmith Odiot, who had provided regularly some silverware to the Imperials, continued to work after 1815 for this family scattered throughout Europe.
77 pieces of the table service provided by Odiot to the Grand Duchess through several orders between 1821 and 1824 have remained together, and constitute the lot 106 of the sale of Sotheby's in New York on November 6. The total weight of silver is 90 Kg
These pieces of silverware (a soup tureen weighing 9 kg, cups, salts, dishes and plates) are decorated with sirens, putti, grapes and laurels, according to models available in the catalog of Odiot since 1806. All parts are marked with the arms of the Grand Duchy of Baden.
The estimated price of this exceptional lot is $ 2 million.
POST SALE COMMENT
I consider this result as very good: $ 1.9 million including expenses. The lower estimate has not been reached, but it was not easy to predict the price of such a package.
1825 The Tribute by Lafayette to Bolivar
2016 SOLD for $ 1.8M including premium
The marquis de La Fayette discovered liberty alongside Washington during the American War of Independence. He was just 20 years old.
Despite a major activity during the French Revolution, he was unable to turn his passion into a viable political program. Hostile to the nobles but not to the monarchy, he changed the spelling of his name to Lafayette.
The Americans have not forgotten this foreigner who had been a hero of their independence. He finally realizes at 67 his dream to visit again the United States. He is honored like a head of state and his tour is triumphant, from July 1824 to September 1825.
Lafayette admired Simon Bolivar. In October 1825, he enthusiastically accepts a request from the Washington family to send to El Libertador some souvenirs from the former President. A gorgeous pair of flintlock pistols by Boutet in a case dated 1825 is a personal gift by Lafayette to Bolivar, probably through the same shipment.
This pair of silver mounted pistols is estimated $ 1.5M for sale byChristie's in New York on April 13, lot 36.
Another pair of pistols made by the same manufacturer was owned by Bolivar during his stay in Paris between 1804 and 1806. It was sold for $ 1.7 million including premium by Christie's on 17 November 2004.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Christie's :
Despite a major activity during the French Revolution, he was unable to turn his passion into a viable political program. Hostile to the nobles but not to the monarchy, he changed the spelling of his name to Lafayette.
The Americans have not forgotten this foreigner who had been a hero of their independence. He finally realizes at 67 his dream to visit again the United States. He is honored like a head of state and his tour is triumphant, from July 1824 to September 1825.
Lafayette admired Simon Bolivar. In October 1825, he enthusiastically accepts a request from the Washington family to send to El Libertador some souvenirs from the former President. A gorgeous pair of flintlock pistols by Boutet in a case dated 1825 is a personal gift by Lafayette to Bolivar, probably through the same shipment.
This pair of silver mounted pistols is estimated $ 1.5M for sale byChristie's in New York on April 13, lot 36.
Another pair of pistols made by the same manufacturer was owned by Bolivar during his stay in Paris between 1804 and 1806. It was sold for $ 1.7 million including premium by Christie's on 17 November 2004.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Christie's :
1830 The Sketch of Democracy
2017 SOLD for £ 3.1M including premium
Eugène Delacroix is ambitious. He wants his art to be a flagship of modernism. He uses as themes of history some contemporary events including the Greek war of Independence. Against the classicism of Ingres he offers the reinforcement of the emotion through bright colors. The sudden death of Géricault pushes him prematurely to the rank of leader of the romantic painting in France.
The path he chooses is difficult : without any figure of famous personality in the opposite of David and Gros, Delacroix will have to demonstrate his own genius to find patrons. The contemporaries do not like the dirt of his war characters. His realism anticipates Courbet.
In 1830 violent events also happen in Paris. The barricades of the Trois Glorieuses (three glorious days) transfer the French monarchy from the Bourbons to the Orléans. Delacroix had no reason to participate in this new revolution : both branches of the royal family were his clients.
Overcome in the usual competitions of that time on predetermined historical themes, Delacroix feels that he can be the first to express the heroic atmosphere of the Trois Glorieuses to please the new regime.
Already about the Greek war Delacroix had shown fighting and harmed people, and also a feminine Victory inspired by ancient art as a separate artwork. For the Trois Glorieuses he has the very innovative idea of mixing the two themes in a single heroic painting of very large size. He immediately begins to prepare drawings.
Success is mixed. Exhibited in 1831 at the Salon de Paris under the slightly bland title Scènes de Barricades, the oil painting 260 x 325 cm also known as 28 Juillet is bought by the king and then retracted by a minister after a few months with the very understandable excuse that it was an incitement to riot. Accepted by the Louvre at the beginning of the Troisième République, this Liberté guidant le peuple becomes the symbol of democracy.
On December 14 in London, Christie's sells a 64 x 85 cm canvas which is certainly the very first oil sketch made by Delacroix for his Liberté. It is estimated £ 700K, lot 8. Remaining traces of a change of orientation of the canvas allow to state that this painting is autograph. It is a precious testimony of the creative process for one of the most universally admired masterpieces of French art.
The path he chooses is difficult : without any figure of famous personality in the opposite of David and Gros, Delacroix will have to demonstrate his own genius to find patrons. The contemporaries do not like the dirt of his war characters. His realism anticipates Courbet.
In 1830 violent events also happen in Paris. The barricades of the Trois Glorieuses (three glorious days) transfer the French monarchy from the Bourbons to the Orléans. Delacroix had no reason to participate in this new revolution : both branches of the royal family were his clients.
Overcome in the usual competitions of that time on predetermined historical themes, Delacroix feels that he can be the first to express the heroic atmosphere of the Trois Glorieuses to please the new regime.
Already about the Greek war Delacroix had shown fighting and harmed people, and also a feminine Victory inspired by ancient art as a separate artwork. For the Trois Glorieuses he has the very innovative idea of mixing the two themes in a single heroic painting of very large size. He immediately begins to prepare drawings.
Success is mixed. Exhibited in 1831 at the Salon de Paris under the slightly bland title Scènes de Barricades, the oil painting 260 x 325 cm also known as 28 Juillet is bought by the king and then retracted by a minister after a few months with the very understandable excuse that it was an incitement to riot. Accepted by the Louvre at the beginning of the Troisième République, this Liberté guidant le peuple becomes the symbol of democracy.
On December 14 in London, Christie's sells a 64 x 85 cm canvas which is certainly the very first oil sketch made by Delacroix for his Liberté. It is estimated £ 700K, lot 8. Remaining traces of a change of orientation of the canvas allow to state that this painting is autograph. It is a precious testimony of the creative process for one of the most universally admired masterpieces of French art.
Our London #ClassicWeek highlights are on view and open to the public. Come see masterpieces at King Street, or find out more online: https://t.co/3xuZg6yb8j pic.twitter.com/gF2bDYmkDM
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) December 4, 2017
1833-1834 Choc de Cavaliers Arabes by Delacroix
1998 SOLD for FF 46.5M before fees by Piasa
1835 The Clock of the Duc d'Orléans
2012 SOLD 6.8 M$ including premium
The most extraordinary ancient timepiece that was recently sold at auction is the clock of the duc d'Orléans, reaching $ 5.8 million including premium at Sotheby's in New York on 2 December 1999. It is listed again on December 4 by the same auction house. Here is the link to the catalog.
In 1795, Abraham-Louis Breguet imagines the combination of a clock and a watch. This outstanding inventor manages later to achieve this stupendous set known as Breguet Sympathique.
After being used during the day, the watch is repositioned in a cradle at the top of the clock. At midnight, the clock triggers a mechanism that enters the watch, measures and rectifies the error. After a few days, the value of the error is integrated into the beat of the watch and its adjustment becomes automatic.
When Breguet died in 1823, five copies have been made. Only kings can afford to own such an expensive mechanism.
Being an extremely remote cousin of Charles X, Louis Philippe I becomes King of France after a revolution. His eldest son, the duc d'Orléans, is a brilliant prince who would like to live again in the luxury of the Ancien Régime. He commissions his sympathique clock to the Breguet workshop. It is completed in 1835.
Luxury adds to technical feat. 58 cm high, the piece is made in the imitation of Boulle style which is so fashionable in that time, in a cabinet by Bellangé and with Denière bronzes on a design by Questel.
The clock and the watch of this set have not been separated. Having been restored to operation by George Daniels, it provides an exceptional demonstration of one of the most advanced ideas of automatism.
POST SALE COMMENT
Again a great and deserved price for this fabulous clock: $ 6.8 million including premium.
In 1795, Abraham-Louis Breguet imagines the combination of a clock and a watch. This outstanding inventor manages later to achieve this stupendous set known as Breguet Sympathique.
After being used during the day, the watch is repositioned in a cradle at the top of the clock. At midnight, the clock triggers a mechanism that enters the watch, measures and rectifies the error. After a few days, the value of the error is integrated into the beat of the watch and its adjustment becomes automatic.
When Breguet died in 1823, five copies have been made. Only kings can afford to own such an expensive mechanism.
Being an extremely remote cousin of Charles X, Louis Philippe I becomes King of France after a revolution. His eldest son, the duc d'Orléans, is a brilliant prince who would like to live again in the luxury of the Ancien Régime. He commissions his sympathique clock to the Breguet workshop. It is completed in 1835.
Luxury adds to technical feat. 58 cm high, the piece is made in the imitation of Boulle style which is so fashionable in that time, in a cabinet by Bellangé and with Denière bronzes on a design by Questel.
The clock and the watch of this set have not been separated. Having been restored to operation by George Daniels, it provides an exceptional demonstration of one of the most advanced ideas of automatism.
POST SALE COMMENT
Again a great and deserved price for this fabulous clock: $ 6.8 million including premium.
1841 Balzac on Provincial Life
2017 SOLD for € 1.17M including premium
Balzac aimed to build through his novels a fictional society to express all types of aristocratic and bourgeois behaviors of his time, most often by exacerbating their greed. He is passionate about this work for which he devotes eighteen hours a day in reading, documenting, planning, writing and correcting. He wants the realism of the details to be indisputable.
A great admirer of himself, he foresees for his work the notoriety of Napoléon and puts his social classification on the rank of the scientific works by Buffon and Cuvier. According to the mood of his time he is very keen of physiognomy.
He was born in Tours : for provincial life, his experience is direct. He has met during his childhood these bourgeois, these doctors and these priests who do not understand the unpleasant character of their own pettiness. Balzac does not exclude anything from the mental environment of his bourgeois who are, depending on the individuals, either attracted, repulsed or little concerned in religion or occultism.
Ursule Mirouët, written in 1841, is the story of an innocent girl whom everyone in her surrounding manages to disinherit. Balzac is particularly satisfied with this novel which will soon become the first opus of the Scènes de la Vie de Province in the complete edition of La Comédie Humaine by Furne.
Ursule Mirouët's first-run manuscript will be sold on December 20 in Paris (Hôtel Drouot) in the inaugural auction of the Aristophil collections operated by Aguttes and OVA, lot 45estimated € 800K.
According to Balzac's usual practice, this manuscript has many differences with the final published text. Indeed he preferred to write in speed and to rely upon the printing proofs for reviewing the consistency and bringing innumerable corrections.
Ursule Mirouët is one of only two first-run manuscripts from La Comédie Humaine in private hands. The other example, Massimilla Doni, on music, is a little away from the main social stream of Balzac.
Please watch the video shared by Aguttes.
A great admirer of himself, he foresees for his work the notoriety of Napoléon and puts his social classification on the rank of the scientific works by Buffon and Cuvier. According to the mood of his time he is very keen of physiognomy.
He was born in Tours : for provincial life, his experience is direct. He has met during his childhood these bourgeois, these doctors and these priests who do not understand the unpleasant character of their own pettiness. Balzac does not exclude anything from the mental environment of his bourgeois who are, depending on the individuals, either attracted, repulsed or little concerned in religion or occultism.
Ursule Mirouët, written in 1841, is the story of an innocent girl whom everyone in her surrounding manages to disinherit. Balzac is particularly satisfied with this novel which will soon become the first opus of the Scènes de la Vie de Province in the complete edition of La Comédie Humaine by Furne.
Ursule Mirouët's first-run manuscript will be sold on December 20 in Paris (Hôtel Drouot) in the inaugural auction of the Aristophil collections operated by Aguttes and OVA, lot 45estimated € 800K.
According to Balzac's usual practice, this manuscript has many differences with the final published text. Indeed he preferred to write in speed and to rely upon the printing proofs for reviewing the consistency and bringing innumerable corrections.
Ursule Mirouët is one of only two first-run manuscripts from La Comédie Humaine in private hands. The other example, Massimilla Doni, on music, is a little away from the main social stream of Balzac.
Please watch the video shared by Aguttes.
1 170 000 € pour le manuscrit Ursule Mirouët, d'Honoré de Balzac lors de la vente des Collections #Aristophil chez @CAguttes pic.twitter.com/Dxa8YulBdx
— Drouot (@Drouot) December 20, 2017
1844 The Late Prince Royal
2016 SOLD for $ 1.72M including premium
Louis-Philippe I is the Roi des Français since 1830. Attempting a middle way between revolutionaries and conservatives, he is not politically convincing. All hopes are heading to his eldest son Ferdinand-Philippe duc d'Orléans. The Prince Royal has many qualities that miss to the old king. His military career was already brilliant. Young and active, friendly and charming, he is also a patron of the arts.
The duc requires Ingres to paint his portrait. After some hesitation, the artist accepts. Seven sitting sessions are made in 1841. The portrait in three quarter length of the prince standing in military uniform is supplied by the artist on 8 May 1842. This oil on canvas 158 x 122 cm entered in 2005 in the collections of the Musée du Louvre.
The fatal accident of the duc on 13 July 1842 at the age of 32 is a disaster for the Orléans dynasty. His friends desire to maintain his image. The widow returns to Ingres and commissions a portrait in bust length.
On August 2, 1844 Ingres delivers to the duchesse d'Orléans a portrait of the deceased duc in oval format 75 x 61 cm. His beautiful face testifies well to the friendship and admiration that he had inspired to the artist. Preserved up to now in the descendance of the duchesse, this oil on canvas is estimated $ 400K for sale byChristie's in New York on April 13, lot 43.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Christie's.
The duc requires Ingres to paint his portrait. After some hesitation, the artist accepts. Seven sitting sessions are made in 1841. The portrait in three quarter length of the prince standing in military uniform is supplied by the artist on 8 May 1842. This oil on canvas 158 x 122 cm entered in 2005 in the collections of the Musée du Louvre.
The fatal accident of the duc on 13 July 1842 at the age of 32 is a disaster for the Orléans dynasty. His friends desire to maintain his image. The widow returns to Ingres and commissions a portrait in bust length.
On August 2, 1844 Ingres delivers to the duchesse d'Orléans a portrait of the deceased duc in oval format 75 x 61 cm. His beautiful face testifies well to the friendship and admiration that he had inspired to the artist. Preserved up to now in the descendance of the duchesse, this oil on canvas is estimated $ 400K for sale byChristie's in New York on April 13, lot 43.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Christie's.
1849 Ingres in the Salon of Madame la Comtesse
2013 SOLD 1.93 M$ including premium
The comtesse Marie d'Agoult holds a Salon in the best tradition of the previous century, and her friends belong to the cultural elite: Balzac, George Sand. She bears three children to Liszt without her husband feeling too much offended. She writes under the pseudonym Daniel Stern.
The 1848 revolution can not keep her indifferent. Later, she will support the Republicans in opposition to the Second Empire. But the evolution of society will soon make these literary salons outdated and unnecessary.
In 1849, another revolution, this one in technology, is progressing : photography favors the portraits. Only an exceptional master may still claim to do better. For Marie, he will be Ingres.
Aged 69 and busy with other projects, Ingres accepts the commission from Marie and makes a large drawing, 48 x 40 cm, in pencil embellished with watercolor. His line is always realistic and his composition well proportioned. Marie and her daughter Claire aged 19 are posing in the living room.
The line of Ingres is perfect without being spontaneous. By a careful observation, the artist has found the attitudes that best express the complicity between mother and daughter.
The comtesse did not fail to comment with sympathy in her notebooks the intrusion of this exceptional man in her apartment. Ingres is fat and short, passionate, with an especially sharp gaze.
This nice drawing is estimated $ 1.5 million, for sale by Christie's in New York on January 31. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
The catalog was convincing about the exceptional qualities of this drawing, sold $ 1.93 million including premium.
The 1848 revolution can not keep her indifferent. Later, she will support the Republicans in opposition to the Second Empire. But the evolution of society will soon make these literary salons outdated and unnecessary.
In 1849, another revolution, this one in technology, is progressing : photography favors the portraits. Only an exceptional master may still claim to do better. For Marie, he will be Ingres.
Aged 69 and busy with other projects, Ingres accepts the commission from Marie and makes a large drawing, 48 x 40 cm, in pencil embellished with watercolor. His line is always realistic and his composition well proportioned. Marie and her daughter Claire aged 19 are posing in the living room.
The line of Ingres is perfect without being spontaneous. By a careful observation, the artist has found the attitudes that best express the complicity between mother and daughter.
The comtesse did not fail to comment with sympathy in her notebooks the intrusion of this exceptional man in her apartment. Ingres is fat and short, passionate, with an especially sharp gaze.
This nice drawing is estimated $ 1.5 million, for sale by Christie's in New York on January 31. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
The catalog was convincing about the exceptional qualities of this drawing, sold $ 1.93 million including premium.
1855 The Parure by Bapst for Empress Eugénie
2014 SOLD for CHF 2.3M including premium
Eugénie de Montijo was a Spanish aristocrat educated in Paris. The new emperor Napoleon III married her in 1853. He was captivated by this young woman aged 27 who will lead the court by her elegance and majestic attitude and guide the fashion according to her taste.
Eugénie was one of the greatest users of jewelry of her time. She rushes to the Crown Jewels of France that had not been dispersed and selects some of them for assembling new pieces.
Alfred Bapst then recovers the role played by his ancestors who had been jewelers to the Crown. In 1855, Eugénie commissions to Bapst a parure (ornament set) that will remain one of the most prestigious jewelry of her reign.
The parure realized by Bapst is composed of three elements: a guirlande (necklace), a tour de corsage (turn-of-bodice) to wear on the dress and a devant-de-corsage (pin-to-bodice brooch). The motifs of currant leafs (feuilles de groseillier) are made by a paving of ancient-cut diamonds mounted in silver and gold.
After the fall of the Empire, Eugénie's jewels were auctioned. Many of them have been disassembled due to the market value of their individual gems. The Bapst groseillier brooch remained however as is. It is estimated CHF 1.9M for sale by Christie's in Geneva on November 11, lot 387. It is centered with a larger diamond and decorated with three hanging pampilles.
Eugénie was one of the greatest users of jewelry of her time. She rushes to the Crown Jewels of France that had not been dispersed and selects some of them for assembling new pieces.
Alfred Bapst then recovers the role played by his ancestors who had been jewelers to the Crown. In 1855, Eugénie commissions to Bapst a parure (ornament set) that will remain one of the most prestigious jewelry of her reign.
The parure realized by Bapst is composed of three elements: a guirlande (necklace), a tour de corsage (turn-of-bodice) to wear on the dress and a devant-de-corsage (pin-to-bodice brooch). The motifs of currant leafs (feuilles de groseillier) are made by a paving of ancient-cut diamonds mounted in silver and gold.
After the fall of the Empire, Eugénie's jewels were auctioned. Many of them have been disassembled due to the market value of their individual gems. The Bapst groseillier brooch remained however as is. It is estimated CHF 1.9M for sale by Christie's in Geneva on November 11, lot 387. It is centered with a larger diamond and decorated with three hanging pampilles.
1862 The Darings of Courbet
2015 SOLD for $ 15.3M including premium
Gustave Courbet was a socialist in the following of the workers' movement of Proudhon. His conception of realism is ideological: the ordinary man and woman can be shown in art without being beautiful or even clean.
He is provocative. Taking the format of an epic painting on a large size, 315 x 668 cm, L'Enterrement à Ornans makes a scandal in 1850. Proudhon is delighted.
The second empire, decreed in 1852, marks the return in France of a prudish censorship that sends its policemen against a pornography now facilitated by photography. For the artists opponent to the regime of Napoléon III, the nude becomes a challenge.
The deliberate ugliness enters the theme of the nude in 1853 with Les Baigneuses by Courbet. Even Ingres, yet close to the government, is interested in this new approach. His Bain Turc, on which he worked for ten years, is an unprecedented erotic accumulation that takes Orientalism as an excuse to avoid reprisals.
On November 9 in New York, Christie's sells a Femme nue couchée, oil on canvas 75 x 97 cm painted by Courbet in 1862, lot 10A estimated $ 15M.
The woman viewed in full length is reclining on a bed, her head turned in a rest position, looking like some replica of the Venus of Urbino but without the discreet hand. Her offering attitude and the half undone stocking reveal that a sexual activity was just completed. The provocation of the picture is increased by a surrounding in romanticist style with a curtain and a landscape.
Such women by Courbet represent a milestone in modern French painting. On one hand, new private customers invite Courbet to even more daring pictures. On the other hand, Manet does not hesitate to confront the scandal with Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe and Olympia.
He is provocative. Taking the format of an epic painting on a large size, 315 x 668 cm, L'Enterrement à Ornans makes a scandal in 1850. Proudhon is delighted.
The second empire, decreed in 1852, marks the return in France of a prudish censorship that sends its policemen against a pornography now facilitated by photography. For the artists opponent to the regime of Napoléon III, the nude becomes a challenge.
The deliberate ugliness enters the theme of the nude in 1853 with Les Baigneuses by Courbet. Even Ingres, yet close to the government, is interested in this new approach. His Bain Turc, on which he worked for ten years, is an unprecedented erotic accumulation that takes Orientalism as an excuse to avoid reprisals.
On November 9 in New York, Christie's sells a Femme nue couchée, oil on canvas 75 x 97 cm painted by Courbet in 1862, lot 10A estimated $ 15M.
The woman viewed in full length is reclining on a bed, her head turned in a rest position, looking like some replica of the Venus of Urbino but without the discreet hand. Her offering attitude and the half undone stocking reveal that a sexual activity was just completed. The provocation of the picture is increased by a surrounding in romanticist style with a curtain and a landscape.
Such women by Courbet represent a milestone in modern French painting. On one hand, new private customers invite Courbet to even more daring pictures. On the other hand, Manet does not hesitate to confront the scandal with Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe and Olympia.
The #GustaveCourbet settles just within estimate for a final of $15,285,000 @ChristiesInc pic.twitter.com/EeCHeSopZi
— Art Observed (@ArtObserved) November 10, 20151870 Courbet on Seaside
2013 SOLD 3.75 M$ including premium
Gustave Courbet occupies a key position in the evolution of French painting, between romanticism and impressionism. Opposed to all social conventions, he claims freedom.
In his career, he is the contemporary and the opposite of Corot. Corot likes to seduce and Courbet loves to shock. Corot maintains an extensive customer base, but for whom is Courbet working ?
Photography disrupts the graphic arts. After Delacroix, Courbet uses it. The style of the painter must go further, be more emotional than the simple optical imaging. In 1865, his art influences a younger artist named Claude Monet who is willing to promote plein air painting.
Is it a coincidence ? Monet grew up in Le Havre and Courbet, suddenly, looks at Etretat, the most beautiful site of cliffs in the Pays de Caux, and at the raging waves of the Channel. Courbet's painting is then soaked in the sun and becomes clear and bright.
On November 6 in New York, Sotheby's sells a view of Etretat painted by Courbet in 1870. This oil on canvas estimated $ 2M is shown in the press release shared by ArtDaily .
From an artistic point of view, Courbet had the capacity to become the leader of the new French painting. His appetite for a social revolution sent him into exile in 1871 after his controversial attitude during the Paris Commune.
The size of this painting is 65 x 81 cm.
POST SALE COMMENT
Very good price for this interesting pre-Impressionist landscape: $ 3.75 million including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
In his career, he is the contemporary and the opposite of Corot. Corot likes to seduce and Courbet loves to shock. Corot maintains an extensive customer base, but for whom is Courbet working ?
Photography disrupts the graphic arts. After Delacroix, Courbet uses it. The style of the painter must go further, be more emotional than the simple optical imaging. In 1865, his art influences a younger artist named Claude Monet who is willing to promote plein air painting.
Is it a coincidence ? Monet grew up in Le Havre and Courbet, suddenly, looks at Etretat, the most beautiful site of cliffs in the Pays de Caux, and at the raging waves of the Channel. Courbet's painting is then soaked in the sun and becomes clear and bright.
On November 6 in New York, Sotheby's sells a view of Etretat painted by Courbet in 1870. This oil on canvas estimated $ 2M is shown in the press release shared by ArtDaily .
From an artistic point of view, Courbet had the capacity to become the leader of the new French painting. His appetite for a social revolution sent him into exile in 1871 after his controversial attitude during the Paris Commune.
The size of this painting is 65 x 81 cm.
POST SALE COMMENT
Very good price for this interesting pre-Impressionist landscape: $ 3.75 million including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's :
