Robert Jacques François Lefèvre Carle Vernet Bayeux 1755 - 1830 Paris Bordeaux 1758 - 1836 Paris

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Description

Robert Jacques François Lefèvre
Portrait of Alexis Gedeon, Standing Full-Length and Wearing a Blue Jacket and Holding a Whip and Top Hat, His Horse is Tethered to a Tree Nearby.
signed and inscribed on the reverse peint par Robert Lefevre, le cheval par C. Vernet
oil on canvas

Exhibited

Paris, Salon of 1795, no. 320 (as A Portrait of a Man and his Horse).

Catalogue Note

That this picture and another depicting Venus Disarming Love in the style of Rubens were painted within months of each other, and exhibited side by side at the Paris Salon of 1795, attests to Lefevre's exceptional artistic versatility. The Portrait of Mr. Gedeon is proof of Lefevre's talent in depicting fabrics. It is clear from this painting why he is sometimes called "the French van Dyck." Although it seems no other documents relative to Mr. Gedeon's life have survived, he was certainly a wealthy man, as he is dressed in a luxurious and fashionable manner, his outfit complete with "butter" colored gloves, a highly valued and gentlemanly accessory at the turn of the century.
From the inscription on the reverse, it seems that Carle Vernet painted the horse featured in this painting, which is painted in a different manner, and displays some characteristics of the latter master's style.

An inscription on the reverse reads "Gedeon Alexis quatre sols de la hante/n le 8 Mai 1767 mort le 18 Juillet 1837".