Old Master Drawings
Old Master Drawings
French School, 18th Century
An album of Italian views; 17 sheets of paper bound in a red leather album, 15 of them used for drawings, some drawn on both sides, and one panoramic view of Florence drawn across two sheets
Auction Closed
January 27, 05:29 PM GMT
Estimate
5,000 - 7,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
French School, 18th Century
An album of Italian views;
17 sheets of paper bound in a red leather album, 15 of them used for drawings, some drawn on both sides, and one panoramic view of Florence drawn across two sheets
The majority in pen and brown ink and brown and gray wash over traces of black chalk;
bears attribution on the inside cover and first page of album: par Nicole (crossed out) / Dessins de Nicole/nicolle, many sheets inscribed in either Italian or French with identifications of the locations depicted
Sheet size: 176 by 226 mm; 7 by 8 7/8 in
Album: 180 by 240 mm; 7 by 9 3/8 in
The sketches contained in this album are wonderfully free and spontaneous and are clearly drawn from life. While inscriptions on the inside cover and first page proffer Victor Jean Nicolle as the artist, the style in which these landscapes and views are drawn are stylistically different to anything we know of Nicolle as a draughtsman. Nicolle depicted many views of Italy when traveling across the country, but he is better known for his precision and topographical skills and in fact won a prize for perspective at the Royal School of Drawing in Paris. The drawings within this album, more painterly and less concerned with accuracy of line, are more atmospheric and evocative depictions of the Italian landscape.
Many French artists came to Rome during the 18th Century and travelled through Italy, drawing the landscapes they encountered, having been encouraged by the Academies to go out into Nature and draw en plein air.
Among the Italian views illustrated within the album there is an attractive panorama of Florence, inscribed with the names of various important edifices: Les prisons / Palazzo Ducale / Les Offices / Valumbrosa / S. Miniato / Belvedere.
Other views depicted include: Forteresse de San Stefano, Monti Argental, Arrezzo, Porto Ercole, La Porte de Pietra Santa, Fiesole sopra la montagna and Chartreuse de Galazzo, Vallombrosa.