Jacques Laurent Agasse

Anonymous sale, Zurich, Salon Bollag, 30 April 1932, lot 112.

Possibly Geneva, Société des Arts, July 1820, no. 1;
Munich, Kunstverein, Winterrhur, Das Pferd in der Kunst, 1930, no. 3.

Sir W. Gilbey, Animal Painters of England, Vol. III, London 1911, pp. 5 and 14 (listed under the year 1809);
Recorded by the Swiss Institute for the Study of Art, Zurich, 28th November 1968, file no. 7724;
R. Loche, Jacques-Laurent Agasse, Geneva 1988, p. 102.

The painting appears to be lighter in tone and fresher in colour than the catalogue illustration would suggest. The paint surface appears to be in good overall condition with no apparent damage or loss of paint visible to the naked eye apart from evidence of frame abrasion to the right most canvas edge and along the lower canvas edge. There is a thin craquelure overall in keeping with the picture's age and similarly there appears to be a thin yellowish varnish overall. The top most and right hand stretcher bar marks are also faintly visible under a raking light. Examination under ultraviolet light reveals several campaigns of minor retouching. This is most noticeable in the sky upper right where there is infilling to old craquelure and cosmetic retouching to the stretcher bar mark as well as a larger area of retouching to the aforementioned abrasion to the canvas edge. Elsewhere there is retouching to the figure which includes discoloured areas of retouching in his hat, arm and body. Bar some very minor areas of strengthening in the peripheral areas, the horse appears to be untouched; however there are scattered areas of minor retouching which extend into more extensive areas of older retouching in the darker pigments of the foliage in the upper left. Offered in a grand gilt wood frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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."

Painted in 1809, soon after Agasse had come to England, the present painting is one of two known portraits of the The Wellesley Arabian by Agasse painted in 1809. The other, which depicts the horse in a stable with his owner and a groom, was painted slightly earlier in August, (sold Sotheby's, London, 9 December 1981, lot 233, for £78,000), whilst the present work was executed in September of that year. In many ways however the present painting is even finer than the former, which was described by Renne Loche as 'without doubt the most brilliantly successful of his horse portraits'¹, setting the stallion in an exquisitely rendered landscape. Generally referred to as the Wellesley Arabian, or the Grey Wellesley Arabian, the horse was in fact not a pure Arab, but a Persian / Arab cross stallion. Named after Henry Wellesley, younger brother of the Duke of Wellington, the grey was one of two such horses he brought to England in 1803 on his return from India. Both horses were unanimously referred to as The Wellesley Arabian, but it was the grey, 'a horse of great substance and power'², which caught the attention of the racing fraternity on account of its spectacular looks. The Racing Calendar of 1804 advertised the two horses as: 'A Grey Arabian and a Chestnut Arabian, chosen by English judges in that part of Arabia, where the best horses are bred, and brought from India by the Hon. Henry Wellesley, in August 1803'. John Lawrence, in his History and Delineation of the Horse, published the same year this picture was painted, supported the theory that Wellesley had brought the stallions from India, 'which I apprehend to be the chief mart for Arabian horses', and described the animals as being 'Persian or Syrian, with a considerable admixture of Arabian blood'.

The Hon. Henry Wellesley, 1^st Baron Cowley (1773-1847), first sailed for India in November 1797, as private secretary to his elder brother Lord Mornington, the newly appointed Governor-General of Bengal. Together with his other brother Sir Arthur Wellesley, afterwards 1^st Duke of Wellington, Wellesley acted as one of the commissioners for the settlement of Mysore after the defeat of Tipu Sultan, and in 1801 he was sent to Lucknow to negotiate a treaty with the Vizier of Oudh to cede territory in the interests of the East India Company. On completion of the treaty Wellesley was appointed Governor of the newly-acquired territory, though he resigned the appointment in March 1802, before returning to Europe. It has been suggested that Wellesley's political influence in India, and his consequent links with the Shah of Persia, could well have provided him with the benefit of expert local advice when selecting his two stallions.

Born into a wealthy and politically influential Huguenot family at Geneva, Agasse first trained at the École du Colibri, before moving to Paris in 1787, where he trained under Jacques-Louis David, and possibly also with Horace Vernet. His interest in animal portraiture eventually led him to London, where, following the precedent of George Stubbs, his evident talent found a ready demand at the hands of the great patrons of the Turf. Such was his success in England that he emigrated there permanently in 1800. Agasse's MS. Record Book records both of the 1809 versions of the Grey Wellesley Arabian, the first being entered under the heading '25 August 1809 P. of a beautifull [sic] grey Arabian small the W:ly, two figures, in a stable. Small ½ length', whilst the present picture follows under the entry 'September 1809 Portrait of ditto lead and groom small size'. As Loche states, this must be the picture that was submitted by Agasse's sister to the Société des Arts for inclusion in the exhibition held in Geneva in July 1820. A third portrait of the horse by Agasse, thought to have been painted in 1810, depicting the stallion being led through the desert, is in the Paul Mellon Collection (Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven).

1. R. Loche, Jacques-Laurent Agasse, Geneva 1988, p. 102
2. The Sporting Magazine, August 1810