HUBERT ROBERT | Night party at the Petit Trianon

Collection Henri Leroux, his sale, Versailles, Hôtel Rameau, 13 October 1968, lot 79. 

G. Faroult and C. Voiriot, Hubert Robert, 1733-1808, Un peintre visionnaire, Paris 2016, pp. 358-9, under cat. no. 113, note 2;
S. Catala, in exhibition catalogue Éloge de la sensibilité, Nantes/Rennes 2019, pp. 320-321, under cat. no. 127, fig. 127-1, reproduced.

The actual painting is more tonal especially in the grays/greens (less blue/green) than the catalogue illustration would suggest. The painting is on a single piece of panel which has a cradling on its reverse. Possibly an old restored damage(?) can be seen in the upper right corner of the panel. Also an old repaired crack(?) can be seen at a diagonal angle running at ca. 10cm from the top. The painted surface seems to be in a good condition with some minor thinness throughout, especially constricted to the dark areas. Different areas of craquelure patterns can be observed, some very fine in the dark areas and a different pattern can be seen in areas containing lead white. Under the UV light The varnish layer fluoresces in places, showing the retouched minor cracks mentioned above, as well as some minor retouchings in the figures in the foreground. Offered in an 18th Century carved and giltwood frame. Le tableau est plus contrasté en réalité, notamment dans les verts et les gris. Le support est un panneau composé d’une seule planche, parqueté au verso. On semble observer un ancien accident restauré dans l’angle supérieur droit. Nous observons également une ancienne craquelure restaurée en diagonale partant d’un angle à environ 10 cm du bord supérieur. La couche picturale semble en bon état, avec quelques légères usures sur l’ensemble, notamment dans les parties sombres. On observe à plusieurs endroits un réseau de craquelures, très fines dans les parties sombres, et un réseau différent dans les parties blanches (visibles sur la photographie). A la lampe UV : Le vernis est opaque par endroits, laissant apparaître les légères craquelures comblées mentionnées à l’œil nu, ainsi que des restaurations dans les personnages à l’arrière-plan. Dans un cadre en bois sculpté et doré du XVIIIè siècle.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This charming sketch is preparatory for a larger painting showing a Night Party at the Petit Trianon, also on panel, in the Musée de Quimper, datable to circa 1780-1784 (64 x 74 cm; inv. no. 873.1.411). As Sarah Catala has suggested in the recent exhibition Nantes/Rennes catalogue, the present work is probably an initial idea for a larger royal commission, now presumably lost (see Catala under Literature). The Quimper painting, which may be itself preparatory to another unknown larger composition and the present sketch are exceptional in the oeuvre of Hubert Robert. They show a wonderful image of a night-time party with its circular Love Temple built in 1778 on an artificial island to the east in the English garden of the Petit Trianon at Versailles. We also see the garden lit by artificial light sources emitting a wonderful glow to the night-time sky and all the groupings of elegant figures assembled to watch the spectacle. According to Catala the Quimper painting probably shows the party given on 3rd August 1781 for the brother of queen Marie-Antoinette, Emperor Joseph II, who travelled incognito to France under the name of Count Falkenstein.

We kindly thank Sarah Catala for having confirmed the attribution to the artist, after inspection of the actual painting, and for her help in cataloguing this lot.