Hubert Robert

Robert was a pioneering artist of the ‘Capriccio’ genre, learning his craft over a period of 11 years, as a student at the French Academy in Rome. He was known to be witty and urbane, with an endlessly enquiring mind - a true man of the Enlightenment. In Rome and Pairs he produced some of the most spectacular images of the eighteenth century, involving poetic landscapes, imaginary urban views inspired by architectural capricci, archaeological studies, remarkable and innovative designs for gardens (at Versailles and Méréville) and palatial decorations (at Bagatelle and Rambouillet, and even in Russia). In the course of his career he befriended some of the greatest artists and thinkers of his generation including Italian painters Pannini and Piranesi, writer and philosopher Denis Diderot, pioneering architects, and French painters Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Elisabeth Louise Vigée- LeBrun, and Jacques-Louis David.

Robert’s admission to the French Academy in November 1754 was unusual because he had not previously studied at the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture. However, Robert’s father was connected to the household of the Marquis de Stainville and when the Marquis’ son, the Comte de Stainville, became the French Ambassador to the Holy See, the Comte arranged for Robert to accompany him to Rome and had him housed at the French Academy on the Corso. This was a hugely important opportunity for young Robert, for in Rome he was able to study first-hand, the coveted ancient monuments and statues, as well as the city’s collections of Italian renaissance and baroque paintings. Robert flourished in Rome and clearly made the most of his opportunity, for when the position of ‘Pensionnaire’ became available in 1759, he was awarded it. The contemporary artists who had most influence on Robert in Rome were Piranesi, who’s workshop was opposite the Palazzo Mancini, where the French Academy was then situated and Giovanni Paolo Panini, who had close ties with the institution. Panini had built a considerable reputation for his own imaginary capricci and Robert occasionally assisted him with his most ambitious works in this genre. Robert returned to Paris in 1765, having established a considerable reputation at the French Academy. Its Director, Charles-Joseph Natoire spoke of Robert in the highest possible terms and his Roman work was already in the esteemed Parisian collections of Pierre-Jean Mariette, Claude-Henri Watelet, the Marquis de Marigny and the younger brother of Mme. de Pompadour, Abel-François Poisson. Between 1767 and 1798 Robert’s work was regularly exhibited at the Paris Salons.