- 77
Jean-Baptiste Lallemand
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- Jean-Baptiste Lallemand
- A rocky coastal landscape with fishermen pulling in their nets;Bathers on the rocks beneath a waterfall and an ancient Roman ruin
- the former signed lower centre: lallemand f.
the latter signed lower left: lallemand/ f. - a pair, both oil on canvas
Provenance
François-Camille de Francesqui, Château de Curis-au-Mont-d'Or (Rhône);
H. Bernard collection, Chalamont, 1954;
Sale, Lyon, 13 June 1988;
Galerie Didier Aaron, Paris, 1995.
H. Bernard collection, Chalamont, 1954;
Sale, Lyon, 13 June 1988;
Galerie Didier Aaron, Paris, 1995.
Exhibited
Dijon, Palais des Etats de Bourgogne, Un Paysagiste dijonnais du XVIIIe siècle J.-B. Lallemand 1716-1803, 1954, p. 20, nos. 38 & 39.
Literature
O. Michel in The Dictionary of Art, vol. 18, London/ New York 1996, p. 663.
Condition
"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's.
Both canvases are unlined and both have vertical seams with some restoration along them. The paint surfaces are stable and flat. The painting with the Fishermen has six or seven consolidated and restored losses, the 'Bathers' has fewer scattered losses but a restored bottom edge. Overall, both paintings are in very good original untouched condition. The paint surface is exceptionally well preserved. There would be a slight tonal benefit to both paintings were the varnish removed.
Offered in plain moulded gilt wood frames, in good condition."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."
Catalogue Note
These monumental canvases once hung in the Château de Curis-au-Mont-d'Or alongside two others of the same height but of greater width (240 cm.), one representing the Château de Pierre-Scize and the other the Château de Curis-au-Mont-d'Or.1 The latter bore the arms of François-Camille de Francesqui, owner of the château, and it is thus very likely that he commissioned the set of four canvases directly from the artist to decorate his home.
Lallemand is best known for his easel paintings of capriccio or architectural landscapes, often depicting views of Rome or Paris. Such large, decorative canvases as these are somewhat rare in his oeuvre, although there is another example, also a pair, depicting Le Matin and Le soir, in the museum at Dijon (each: 227 by 330 cm). Lallemand was in fact born in Dijon but moved to Paris at the age of twenty-three to study painting, possibly with Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni. He became a member of the Académie de St. Luc in Paris in 1745 and two years later moved to Rome where he spent the ensuing fourteen years, one trip to Naples apart. In Rome he was clearly heavily influenced by fellow French artists working in the italianate manner such as Claude-Joseph Vernet. After leaving Italy in 1761 he stayed for a time in Lyon and Michel (see literature) hypothesises that the present works, along with their larger pendants, were executed during this time.
1. Un Paysagiste dijonnais du XVIIIe siècle J.-B. Lallemand 1716-1803, exhibition catalogue, 1954, pp. 8, 20, nos. 36 and 37.
Lallemand is best known for his easel paintings of capriccio or architectural landscapes, often depicting views of Rome or Paris. Such large, decorative canvases as these are somewhat rare in his oeuvre, although there is another example, also a pair, depicting Le Matin and Le soir, in the museum at Dijon (each: 227 by 330 cm). Lallemand was in fact born in Dijon but moved to Paris at the age of twenty-three to study painting, possibly with Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni. He became a member of the Académie de St. Luc in Paris in 1745 and two years later moved to Rome where he spent the ensuing fourteen years, one trip to Naples apart. In Rome he was clearly heavily influenced by fellow French artists working in the italianate manner such as Claude-Joseph Vernet. After leaving Italy in 1761 he stayed for a time in Lyon and Michel (see literature) hypothesises that the present works, along with their larger pendants, were executed during this time.
1. Un Paysagiste dijonnais du XVIIIe siècle J.-B. Lallemand 1716-1803, exhibition catalogue, 1954, pp. 8, 20, nos. 36 and 37.