Alexandre-Marie Colin

Anonymous sale, Arnauné-Prim, Toulouse, 4 July 2001, lot 406.

Born in the same year as Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863), Alexandre-Marie Colin was admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts in 1814, where he and Delacroix attracted the attention of their teachers by winning prizes in drawing and composition. Colin also entered Girodet’s studio (1767–1824). At the beginning of his career, he was in the forefront of Romanticism and received the same sort of criticism as Delacroix for his choice of subjects, while being admired for his talents as a painter. His refined style gave him a reputation as an accomplished portraitist but was particularly well suited to historical and literary subjects in easel painting formats, in which he and his close friend Bonington were pioneers. Colin never achieved the fame of Bonington or Delacroix but consistently exhibited at the Salon between 1819 and 1868.

An inscription on the back reads ‘au profit des victimes de l’inondation de Lyon’ [for the benefit of the victims of the Lyon flood]: it is probable that Colin painted this work following the catastrophic flood in Lyon on 30 May 1856. A dam broke after torrential rain upstream from Lyon and the left bank of the town was submerged. Several neighbourhoods were inundated and tens of thousands of inhabitants were affected. This fine devotional work is a perfect example of Romantic easel paintings. It may portray St Theresa of Avila, who is often shown in a Carmelite habit, holding a pen.