Nicolas Robert

Nicolas Robert was perhaps the greatest French natural history artist of the 17th century, producing considerable numbers of superb watercolours on vellum, depicting flowers, plants, birds and other animals, primarily executed for Gaston d'Orléans, brother of King Louis XIII. Today, his works can be found in various private and public collections, but the largest number is at the Musée d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris. This collection contains over 6,000 watercolours by the artist, including all the known drawings of birds other than those formerly in the Marcel Jeanson Collection.¹Two other examples of Robert's flower studies will be offered as part of the concurrent online sale of Old Master & British Works on Paper, closing on 25 January 2023. 

^1. Sale, Monaco, Sotheby's, 'The Marcel Jeanson Collection', 16 June 1988