PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, NEW YORK
Hubert Robert
TEMPLE OF PHILOSOPHY AT ERMENONVILLE
LOT SOLD.
230,500 USD
Details & Cataloguing
Important Old Master Paintings and Sculpture
|
New York
New York
Hubert Robert
PARIS 1733 - 1808
TEMPLE OF PHILOSOPHY AT ERMENONVILLE
Provenance
Alberto Bruni-Tedeschi;
By whom anonymously sold ("Property of a European Private Collector"), New York, Sotheby's, 21 May 1998, lot 133;
There purchased by the present owner.
By whom anonymously sold ("Property of a European Private Collector"), New York, Sotheby's, 21 May 1998, lot 133;
There purchased by the present owner.
Literature
H. Burda, Die Ruine in den bildern Hubert Roberts, 1967, p. 63, illus. pl. 58;
J. de Cayeux, Hubert Robert et les Jardins, 1987, pp. 118-19, The Pyramid illus. 92 in color;
G. Herzog, Hubert Robert und das Bild im Garten, 1989, p. 88, pl. 58 (as location unknown)
J. de Cayeux, Hubert Robert et les Jardins, 1987, pp. 118-19, The Pyramid illus. 92 in color;
G. Herzog, Hubert Robert und das Bild im Garten, 1989, p. 88, pl. 58 (as location unknown)
Catalogue Note
The gardens at Ermenoville in the Oise were begun in 1766 by the gardener Thomas Blaikie and architect Jean-Marie Morel; Robert was commissioned to design many of the outbuildings and follies (fabriques) one of which was the Temple de la Philosophie. The Temple still survives (see Literature, Cayeux 1987, p. 161). The design of the temple as shown here reflects the lessons learned during Robert's ten-year long stay in Italy. The Temple of Philosophy is based on the Temple of Sibyl at Tivoli. Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart (1739-1813) owned a smaller replica of the present painting, which was sold in the sale of his possessions in Paris, 27 March 1792 (see Literature, Cayeux 1987, p. 150). Brongniart was an architect who later took over the revitalization of the Sèvres manufactories for Napoleon. He was buried in Père Lachaise which he designed in 1804 when he was Chief of Public Works.
When last sold (see Provenance), this picture was sold as a pair with Robert's Pyramid of Maupertius. That work, signed and dated 1798, suggests that this canvas was painted either in the same year or around the same moment as its probable pendant. When last sold it was also indicated that both pictures would be included in the catalogue raisonné of the paintings of Hubert Robert being prepared by the Wildenstein Institute.
When last sold (see Provenance), this picture was sold as a pair with Robert's Pyramid of Maupertius. That work, signed and dated 1798, suggests that this canvas was painted either in the same year or around the same moment as its probable pendant. When last sold it was also indicated that both pictures would be included in the catalogue raisonné of the paintings of Hubert Robert being prepared by the Wildenstein Institute.
Suggested Lots
Important Old Master Paintings and Sculpture
|
New York
New York
