Alexandre-François Desportes

Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 26 January 2006, lot 343;
There acquired by the present collector. 

G. de Lastic and P. Jacky, Desportes, Saint-Rémy-en-l'Eau 2010, p. 265, no. PC 1 ter (under "peintures à confirmer"). 

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 perhaps has not been recently restored, but it could be hung in its current condition. The old lining is good. The paint layer seems to be clean. The retouches are effective. These retouches seem to address actual paint losses rather than any abrasion, and a good deal of sharpness and clarity is still apparent in the still life elements and monkey. The retouches are quite numerous and are clearly visible under ultraviolet light throughout the work. Many of these retouches run in horizontal lines. The retouches are well applied and the work should be hung as is.
"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."

One of the most important French still-life painters of the 18th century, Alexandre-François Desportes served as the official painter of hunting scenes and animals to both Louis XIV and Louis XV.  He was trained in Paris in the Flemish style and spent a brief period in Poland before being reçu into the Académie Royale as an animal painter in 1699. Desportes was instrumental in popularizing still life painting in 18th-century France.  Inspired by Dutch and Flemish banquet paintings of the late 17th century, in which trophies of the hunt would be arranged with an abundance of fruit, vegetables and flowers on tabletops and in landscape settings, his pictures fit well into the Rococo taste that was in favor amongst the French aristocracy.  Still lifes such as the present example, which is signed and dated 1725, were highly sought after to decorate the most elegant homes in France.