Léon Riesener

Anonymous sale, Picard-Tajan, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 20 November 1981, lot 42;

With Camoin, Paris;

Anonymous sale, Le Houelleur, Deauville, 19 August 1993, lot 77;

Anonymous sale, Sotheby's, New York, 24 May 1995, lot 213;

Private collection, France.

Léon Riesener (1808–1878) was a pupil of Baron Antoine-Jean Gros (1771–1835) and the grandson of Jean Henri Riesener, the great cabinet maker of the Louis XVI period. Léon Riesener is especially known for his famous portrait of Eugène Delacroix in the Louvre (inv. no. RF 1960-58). He was first cousin to Delacroix, who was ten years older than him. The two men were close and painted together in Normandy in 1823. They shared their opinions on painting and agreed on many subjects, particularly questions of colour, which they regarded as the essential and primary aspect of their trade. Delacroix bought the painting Angélique from his cousin; it is now in the Louvre (inv. no. RF 1970 37).

Riesener started exhibiting at the Salon in 1830. His first works were naturalist subjects and he received his first commission from the state in 1839; this was followed by several others, notably the decorations for the library in the Chambre des Pairs and for the Ministry of the Interior.

From 1857 onwards, Riesener often travelled to Beuzeval near Houlgate where he had bought a mill, principally to pursue his research into colour, working from life and from the nature around him. He was regularly joined there by his friends Constant Troyon and Paul Huet.

This spectacular pastel, the artist’s favourite medium alongside oil painting, demonstrates both Riesener’s talent as a portrait painter and his particular interest in colour. The treatment of the flesh tones, the various materials, the model’s dress and the horse as well the natural setting are striking both for the artist’s dexterity and for the subtle colours.

Several Impressionists, including Renoir, paid tribute to him on his death in 1878, recognising that his work and especially his research into colour seemed to have paved the way for the next generation.