Lot 13
  • 13

Marie Lucas-Robiquet

Estimate
250,000 - 350,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • Marie Lucas-Robiquet
  • Une caravane dans l'Oued-Biskra
  • signed and dated M. Lucas-Robiquet / 93 lower right
  • oil on canvas
  • 106 by 142cm., 41¾ by 56in.

Provenance

Private collection, France

Exhibited

Paris, Salon, 1893, no. 1159

Condition

The following condition report has been provided by Hamish Dewar Ltd, 13 & 14 Mason's Yard, London SW1Y 6BU: UNCONDITIONAL AND WITHOUT PREJUDICE Structural Condition The canvas is unlined and is securely attached to what certainly appears to be the artist's original, keyed wooden stretcher. There is some slight pulling in the lower left and right corners of the composition and the canvas would benefit from retensioning. Paint surface The paint surface has a reasonably even varnish layer. There is small vertical line of paint loss above the horizon in the upper left quadrant of the composition and two further minor paint losses towards the upper left corner. There is also a horizontal line of abrasion within the sky in the upper right quadrant of the composition. There are several pale areas within upper right and left of the sky which are possibly retouching but would seem more likely to be due to the degradation of the varnish layers. These areas do not fluoresce in a manner consistent with retouching under ultra-violet light. One of these areas corresponds to the horizontal line of abrasion mentioned above. The paint surface has a faint pattern of craquelure, most notably within the sky, and some fine stretcher bar lines corresponding to the stretcher members. These all appear stable and are not particularly visually distracting. Inspection under ultra-violet light does not appear to show evidence of any retouching. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in good condition and would benefit from cleaning, restoration and revarnishing, and from the localised consolidation, infilling and retouching of any minor paint losses as well as the reversal of the areas mentioned above in the sky.
"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

This masterful evocation of the Saharan light was the artist’s submission to the Paris Salon des Artistes Français of 1893. Although coincidentally painted in the same year as Ludwig Deutsch's The Palace Guard (lot 10), Une caravane dans l'Oued-Biskra is a prime example of the altogether more Impressionistic painterly approach characterising the leading French Orientalists of Lucas-Robiquet's generation, notably Etienne Dinet (see lot 40).

A Berber or Touareg family is seen traversing the floodplain of a wadi near Biskra in northern Algeria. The head of the family briefly halts the caravan - composed of four camels and a donkey carrying the children, possessions, and supplies – before fording the river. The composition is the culmination of Lucas-Robiquet’s developing thoughts on the subject, which the artist explored in several oil sketches made on the spot while living in Algeria. The painting is a re-discovery, having remained in a private collection in France since it was painted. It is presented in its original Salon frame.