Hubert Robert

The Marquise de Gartempe, Niort;
The Saidye Bronfman Foundation:
By whom sold ("Property from the Saidye Bronfman Foundation"), London, Christie's, 5 July 1996, lot 78.

London, Wildenstein, Paintings by Hubert Robert, February - March 1938, nos. 3 and 4.

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 pair of paintings has been reasonably well restored. While the condition of both pictures is not particularly good, they are an interesting and presentable pair of images. Both pictures have developed weakness throughout. The darker colors of the foliage in both pictures have been abraded and subsequently retouched. In the composition with the boat, the sky shows numerous retouches in addition to those in the darker colors. The works should be hung in their current state.
"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."

Robert’s imaginary garden views, incorporating various elements such as streams, waterfalls, fountains, arches and antique temples, are some of his most enchanting works.  Here, in the first of this pair, a group of elegantly clad figures walks towards a rather fanciful gazebo built over a stream and adorned with flowers.  The other depicts a Palladian villa along a canal fronted by a long wall with a seemingly endless row of splashing fountains; figures descend a wide staircase and prepare to embark on a canopied pleasure boat.  Robert painted a variation of this same subject in large vertical format (160 by 105 cm.), signed and dated 1786, for which there is a preparatory drawing in the Louvre, Cabinet des Dessins (RF 11542).¹

At the time of the 1996 sale (see Provenance), Joseph Baillio confirmed these paintings to be by Robert, based on transparencies, dating them to circa 1795.  These paintings will be included in the critical catalogue of the paintings of Hubert Robert currently being prepared under the auspices of The Wildenstein Institute.

 

1. See J. de Cayeux, Hubert Robert et Les Jardins, Paris 1987, pp. 140-141, nos. 111 and 112, reproduced.