Pierre-Jacques Volaire

Estimate

100,000 - 150,000 USD

bidding is closed

Description

Pierre-Jacques Volaire
Coastal landscape near Naples
bears signature lower left: J. Vernet 1780
oil on canvas

Provenance

Earl of Strafford, London;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 20 July 1955, lot 51 (as Claude-Joseph Vernet);
There acquired by Thos. Agnew and Sons Ltd., London;
By whom sold to M. Knoedler & Co., New York, February 1956 (as Claude-Joseph Vernet);
Private collection, Pennsylvania.

Exhibited

London, Thos. Agnew and Sons Ltd., London, Autumn Exhibition of Fine Paintings by Old Masters, 26 October-3 December 1955, no. 23 (as Claude-Joseph Vernet).

Literature

Art News, December 1955, vol. 54, p. 4 (as Claude-Joseph Vernet);
B. Nicholson, "Current and Forthcoming Exhibitions", in The Burlington Magazine, December 1955, vol. 97, p. 402-403 (as Claude-Joseph Vernet);
E. Beck Saiello, Pierre Jacques Volaire dit le Chevalier Volaire, Paris 2010, p. 261, cat. no. P.134 (as location unknown).

Catalogue Note

This softly lit harbor scene is a mature work by Volaire, painted after he had entered independent practice following his apprenticeship with Vernet circa 1755 to 1764. After a brief spell in Rome, Volaire settled in Naples in 1769 and was to remain there for the following two decades. During this time he showed himself to be the most able and inventive of Vernet's followers, capable of adapting rather than simply imitating the successful designs of his master.

The picture was sold in 1955 with its pendant (fig. 1) as a late work by Vernet, and was only recently re-attributed to Volaire, datable to circa 1765-1770.¹ The pendant was subsequently sold as by Volaire New York. Sotheby's, 30 January 2014 lot 61, for $185,000 (see Literature, E. Beck Saiello 2010, cat. no. P.134).

1. See Literature, E. Beck Saiello 2010, p. 261.