Louis de Boullogne the Younger

In the collection of a French noble family since the beginning of the 19th century;
Until sold Paris, Sotheby’s, 25 June 2003, lot 17, for €156,375;
There acquired by the present collector.

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 work seems to have been fairly recently restored. The canvas has been lined using non-acidic glue as an adhesive. There is an original canvas join running horizontally through the sky above the dove. This join and a few restorations along it remain slightly visible. There is a very attractive patina to the paint layer and although the work is quite recently cleaned, this patina is a good indication of the health of the painting. There are a few retouches addressing some cracking and small blemishes in the two female figures on the right. There are also a few spots of retouching within the other two figures. As one would expect, there are a few other isolated retouches here and there throughout the picture, particularly in the lighter colors to address small spots and blemishes, but this is a picture in very good and presentable condition.
"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."

Coming from a family of artists and being the son of one of the founding members of the Royal Academy, Louis de Boullogne the Younger had an exemplary academic career.  At the age of nineteen, he won the Prix de Rome and left for Italy in 1675.  He returned to Paris four years later and soon started working for the Louis XIV at Versailles, no doubt recommended by his brother who was also a painter at the court.  He was appointed Rector of the Académie Royale in 1717 and became Director in 1722, the same year he was admitted into the Order of St. Michael.  In 1724, he was knighted by Louis XV and became Premier Peintre du Roi.

Around 1715, having achieved considerable wealth and fame, it was thought that Boullogne had ceased painting almost completely.  However, Venus at the Forge of Vulcan, which is dated 1723, challenged that assumption when it was re-discovered at the time of the 2003 sale (see Provenance).

The composition was originally part of a series of four paintings depicting the Elements, known from engravings by Louis Desplaces and Charles Dupuis, made between 1717 (for Venus in the Forge of Vulcan) and 1721.¹  The whereabouts of Boullogne’s paintings, on which the prints were based, is today unknown.  Two of them may have been exhibited in the Salon of 1699 (The Earth with Earthly Deities and Juno Commanding Aeolus to Let the Wind Disperse the Fleet of Aeneas).  It seems that Boullogne carefully developed the works as numerous preparatory drawings exist, some with variations, and some in the opposite sense of the paintings and engravings.²  Due to the considerable success and popularity of the engravings, it seems  Boullogne decided to re-visit his earlier project and to paint the present second version of Venus in the Forge of Vulcan a number of years later.  The subject had already inspired him earlier in his career in a painting for the Menagerie at Versailles (before 1705, oval, 83 by 81 cm., now lost), and for a painting exhibited at the Salon of 1704 (possibly the picture sold Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 8 May 1985, dated 1703).

 

 

1.  See Count of Saint-Aymour, Une famille d’artiste et de financier aux XVII^e and XVIII^e siècles: Les Boulogne, 1919, p. 289, no. 489.
2.  See H. Guicharnaud, “Le Quartre Eléments de Louis de Boulogne: etudes préparatoires,” in Revue du Louvre, No. 4, 1985, pp. 265-274.