Jean Restout

Probably in the artist's studio at his death in 1768 (see P. de la Blancherie, op. cit.);
Jean-Bernard Restout, the artist's son, 1783, and recorded in the inventory following his death in 1796;
M. Lenormand, 1862;¹
Georges Vésier, 1938;
Anonymous sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 5 December 1990, lot 73, for FF 2,200,000;
Anonymous sale,  New York, Christie's, 31 January 1997, lot 81;
There purchased by the present collector.

Paris, Palais du Louvre, Galerie d'Apollon, Concours of 1727, May-June 1727, no. 2;
Paris, Salon de la correspondance, 1783, no. 73;

Anonymous, Explication des tableaux exposez dans la Galerie d'Apollon, Paris 1727, no. 2;
Mercure de France, July 1727, p. 1527;
L. Poinsimet de Sivry, Le Nècrologe des hommes célèbres de France, Paris 1767-82, vol. IV, p. 59;
Galerie françoise, ou portraits des hommes et des femmes célèbres qui ont paru en France, 1771, p. 5;
D. P. J. Papillon de Le Ferté, Extrait des différens ouvrages publiés sur la vie des peintres, 1776, vol. II, p. 634;
M.C.C, Pahin De La Blancherie, "Essai d'un tableau historique des peintres de l'école française, depuis Jean Cousin, en 1500, jusqu'en 1783 inclusivement, avec le catalogue des ouvrages des memes maîtres qui sont offerts à present á l'émulation et aux hommages du public, dans le Salon de la Correspondance", in Nouvelles de la République des Lettres et des arts, no. 27,  1 July 1783, p. 234, no. 73;
Ph. De Chennevières-Pointel, Recherches sur la vie et les ouvrages de quelques peintres provinciaux de l'ancienne France, 1847-62, vol. III, p. 322
Rouxelin, "Eloge de Restout, lu devant l'Académie de Caen par son secrétaire, le 5 mai 1768", in Recherches sur la vie et les ouvrages de quelques peintres provinciaux de l'ancienne France, vol. III, 1853, p. 322;
A.R. Formigny de la Londe, "Essai sur les Principes de la peinture par Jean Restout peintre ordinaire du roi Louis XV", in Bulletin de la Société des Beaux-Arts de Caen, vol. III, 1863, p. 56, no. 7;
J. J. Guiffrey, Table général des artistes ayant exposé aux Salons du XVIIIème siècle, Paris 1873, no. 6, reproduced pl. LIX;
P. Manz, François Boucher, Lemoyne, et Natoire, Paris 1880, p. 22;
F. Engerand, Inventaire des tableaux commandés et achetés par la direction des Bâtiments du roi, Paris 1901, pp. 423-24;
L. Dimier, Les Peintres français du XVIIIe siècle: Histoire des vies et catalogue des oeuvres, 1928-30, vol. I, p. 74;
J. Messelet, "Jean Restout", in Archives de l'Art Français, nouvelle période, vol. XIX, 1938, pp. 114, 165, no. 141;
P. Rosenberg, A. Schnapper, " Liste raisonnée", in Jean Restout, exhibition catalogue, Rouen 1970, no. 101. p. 209 (as a lost painting by the artist);
P. Rosenberg, "Le Concours de peinture de 1727", in Revue de l'Art, no. 37, 1977, p. 39 (as whereabouts unknown);
M. O'Neill, Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Orléans. Catalogue critique: Les Peintures de l'école française des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, Orléans 1981, vol. I, pp.122-23;
J.- L. Bordeaux, François Le Moyne (1688-1737) and His Generation, Neuilly-sur-Seine 1984, pp. 42, 109;
H. Siefert, Themen aus Homers Ilias in der Französischen Kunst (1750-1831), Munich 1988, no.162;
C. Bailey, The Loves of the Gods: Mythological Paintings from Watteau to David, exhibition catalogue, Paris, Philadelphia and Fort Worth 1992, pp. 318-323, under cat. no. 34, p. 325, reproduced fig. 4;
C. Gouzi, Jean Restout (1692-1768) peintre d'histoire à Paris, Paris 2000, pp. 41, 214, cat. no. P.33, reproduced fig. P.33.

ENGRAVED:
Jean-Charles Levasseur, 1769, no. 34 of the Delignières catalogue, 1865.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has been recently restored and although it may be very slightly dirty, there seems to be no real advantage to reexamining the restoration at this time. The lining is successful and appropriate. The paint layer is even and well textured, and in its current frame this painting should be hung as is. The retouches are all visible under ultraviolet light and have been very diligently applied. There are some concentrations of retouches addressing some cracking in the blue gown of Andromache and a couple of slightly larger losses in the figure holding the rearing horse on the left side. The rest of the retouches have been very conservatively applied to reduce some cracking and small blemishes, but no abrasion has occurred to the paint layer or has been corrected. There is a horizontal tear running through the legs of the figure holding Hector's helmet which has been restored and in Hector's left thigh there is another structural damage. However, for a picture of this scale and period, these restorations are minor and if the paint layer were dusted, the picture would be seen to be extremely well preserved.
"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 grand work was painted by Restout for the Concours de 1727, a competition devised for history painters of the Académie.  The artists were free to choose their own subject and twelve painters took part, including Jean-François de Troy, Charles Coypel, Nicolas Coypel and François Lemoine.  The exhibition took place in the Galerie d'Apollon of the Louvre in May and June of 1727 and the winners were de Troy and Lemoine.  After the competition, Hector Taking Leave of Andromache remained in the possession of Restout and was in the artist's studio until his death.  It was inherited by his son, the painter Jean-Bernard Restout, with whom it is recorded in 1783 and who lent it to the Salon de la correspondance exhibition of that year. After being out of the public eye for more than two centuries, it reappeared at auction in Paris in 1990.

For his subject, Restout chose the climactic episode from the sixth book of Homer's Iliad, one of the most moving and poignant scenes in the entire epic.  The Trojan warrior Hector, son of King Priam, is preparing to return to the battle field against the Greeks.  His wife, Andromache, pleads with him to stay and not to leave her a widow and their infant son, Astynax, without a father, but he holds firm that he is bound by duty to defend Troy.  He reaches out to take his son in his arms, but the boy is frightened by his plumed helmet, causing his parents to laugh despite their anguish. He removes his helmet and, caressing his son, offers a prayer to Zeus.  Restout depicts the moment as Hector hands the boy back to his mother, his eyes still gazing heavenward.

Restout based his composition on a painting of the same subject by Antoine Coypel (now in the Musée de Tours) painted around 1711 for the Duke of Orléans, which was repeated in a larger version in 1717-18 as a tapestry cartoon for the Gobelin factory.  He chose the exact same point in the story but by using fewer figures, bringing them closer to the viewer within the picture plane and adding more movement to the composition, he further heightened the drama and emotional content of the scene.

Restout painted a second version of Hector Taking Leave of Andromache in 1728, though the particulars of this commission are not known.² That painting is almost identical to the present version though with diffrences in the placement of the rocks and foliage in the foreground and the figures standing on the tower.  Most interestingly, the shield held by the mounted officer at far right was originally oval as in the 1727 version, but altered by the artist to a rectangular form in the 1728 version (its curved outlines are still visible to the naked eye).  Though Restout did not win the Concours competition, his Hector Taking Leave of Andromache must have been greatly admired.  In addition to the two autograph versions, there exist a number of copies, such as a full scale one in the Staatliche Galerie, Halle and a partial copy in the Musée des Beaux Arts Orléans.  In addition, various 18^th century decorative objects including snuff boxes and pocket watches were decorated with designs based on his painting.³

 

1.  According to A.R. Formigny de la Londe, op.cit., no. 7.
2.  The 1728 version was sold, New York, Sotheby's, 11 January 1996, Lot 152 (signed and dated 1728, oil on canvas, 50 ½ by 76 ¼; 128.3 by 193.7 cm.) and is now in a private American collection.
3.  See C. Bailey, op.cit, p. 322, under cat. no. 34, note 1.