Hubert Robert

Adrien Fauchier-Magnan, Paris;

Paula de Koenisgberg, Buenos Aires, 1967;

With Carlo Orsi, Milan, 1997;

Private collection, Venice;

From where offered ('Dal Piano Nobile di Palazzo Contarini di Corfù Scamozzi, Venezia'), Milan, Sotheby's, 23 June 2009, lot 42.

Paris, Galerie D’Atrì, 1922–1923;

Buenos Aires, Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo, Exposición de Arte Francés, October 1959.

P. de Nolhac, 'Les premières œuvres romaines d’Hubert Robert', in La Renaissance de l’art Français, vol. VI, January 1923, p. 33, reproduced pp. 28–30, 32 (the series of four);

H. Voss, 'Opere giovanili di Hubert Robert in Gallerie Italiane', in Dedalo, 1928, vol. VIII, pp. 743–51 (the third capriccio reproduced on p. 747).

The following condition report is provided by Hamish Dewar who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: Structural Condition The four canvases appear to have been lined and this has secured the pattern of craquelure, the extent of which varies on the four paintings. Paint surface The paint surfaces have even varnish layers and there are varying degrees of retouching on the individual paintings. There are only minimal retouchings, predominately in the sky, on the "Capriccio with the Basilica of Constantine" and the similarly on the "Capriccio with the Arco Degli Orefici" There are more retouchings on the "Capriccio with the Temple of Faustina", with a number of retouchings around the framing edges, a few in the sky, and an area measuring approximately 5 x 8 cm in the pillars above the group of figures in the foreground. There are considerably more retouchings on the "Capriccio with the Temple of Venus", with extensive retouchings in the sky, many of which fill craquelure lines. Summary The set of four paintings therefore appear to be in good and stable condition, with varying amounts of retouching, and no further work is required.
"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."

These four canvases depicting monuments of ancient Rome are amongst the earliest works painted by Hubert Robert after his arrival in Rome in 1754 in the train of the Duc de Choiseul, Louis XV’s new ambassador to the Holy See. They typify Robert’s early fascination with the romance of the ruins and their interplay with modern life. They doubtless derive for some of the many sketches he made en plein air in and around Rome. During the more than ten years he spent in Rome, Robert would become a leader of his field and establish for himself a reputation resulting in his appointment in charge of the Louvre: indeed he is considered now as the museum’s first real ‘curator’.

Upon his arrival in Rome Robert fell into the circle of Piranesi and is thought to have spent some time in the studio of Gian Paolo Panini. From these two titans he learned much and his subsequent career and all that it contains is impossible without their combined influence. Panini was extremely influential among the circle of French artists in Rome and his richly painted views of the city and its ruins would have a lasting effect on Robert. The young Frenchman added an even greater sense of the romantic to his own such views however through his use of restrained colour, half tones and sfumato. His landscapes evoke an atmosphere of the lost ancient world, animated with a sense of the everyday, with washerwomen, and folk going about their daily lives.

This set of four originally formed part of a set of ten works depicting such monuments and were published as such by de Nolhac at the time of their exhibition in Paris in 1923, and later by Voss. The works will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné on Robert currently being prepared by the Wildenstein Institute.