Four Centuries of Art from Private European Collections

Four Centuries of Art from Private European Collections

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  Gustave Moreau, Le Roi David. Estimate €250,000–350,000.
  

  Not only a history painter but also a painter of dreams par excellence, Gustave Moreau took equal inspiration from classical mythology and the Bible. Constantly revitalising his approach and breaking with the conventions of history painting, his oeuvre has a disconcerting modernity that inspired many 20th century artists, from his pupil Matisse to the Surrealists for whom he was one of the most important models in their pantheon.
  
  Contrary to what might be assumed at first sight, the subject of the work is not David playing his harp at the feet of Saul, but an ageing King David, alone in his twilight years, being visited by an angel who has come to collect the patriarch's last songs.
  
  King David is one of the most striking examples of Moreau’s visual syncretism: the refined treatment and the rich and subtle colours recall Persian miniatures; the architectural elements in part evoke the decorative exuberance of Mughal art; while the medium and the subtle gold highlights echo the great tradition of medieval illumination.

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  Charlotte Vignon, Coupe aux raisins blancs et noirs. Estimate €200,000–300,000.

  This remarkable and unusual painting is unrivalled among still lifes of the 17th century, as much for the rarity of the artist as for its original and astonishingly modern composition. It represents a radical break with the formal and aesthetic conventions of classical still life and takes an innovative approach to the genre.
  
  The plunging viewpoint centred on the surface of the tazza, the skilfully calculated alternation of bunches of black and white grapes, the deliberate negation of any perspective, all combine to make this an exceptionally forceful and iconic image, one of the most original and striking French still lifes of the 17th century.

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  Salomon Koninck, Suzanne et les vieillards. Estimate €40,000–60,000.

  This unrecorded painting is an exciting new addition to the oeuvre of Salomon Koninck and has only very recently been discovered in a French private collection. It was painted in the early to mid-1640s, when Koninck was at the pinnacle of his career. By this time the artist had also fully absorbed the influence both of Rembrandt, with whose work he must have been familiar, and of the Leiden fijnschilders. While the stimulus of the former can be seen, in particular, in the strong chiaroscuro effects and facial types, the influence of the latter is more noticeable in the rendition of the fabrics and metallic objects to which the artist has typically devoted special attention, in particular the meticulous rendering of all the tiny highlights on Susanna's drapery.
  
  In this magnificent grand-scale composition, Susanna is depicted with soft facial features and semi-clothed in a rich dark-red velvet cloth. The two old men appear like real characters from the ancient Middle East in their attire and headdresses.

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  Le Maître des Cortèges, Rixe de portefaix. Estimate €30,000–40,000.

  The Maître des Cortèges is the invented name for this anonymous painter in the circle of the Le Nain brothers. The work of this artist is grouped together around two paintings: Le Cortège du boeuf which belonged to Pablo Picasso before he bequeathed it to the Musée du Louvre, and Le Cortège du bélier (Philadelphia Museum of Art).
  
  Jacques Thuillier analysed the painting in the Le Nain retrospective in 1978-1979 as such: “The geometric construction of this painting succeeds in suggesting the fight through the play of large obliques, without the need for mimicry and shouting, not for these more or less vulgar details that are added much of the time [by other artists].”
  

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  Entourage de Jacques Dubroeucq (1505-1584), Pays-Bas du Sud, vers 1600, Saint Adrien, Estimate €80,000–120,000.

  This alabaster figure of Saint Adrian is typical of Mannerist sculpture in the Southern Netherlands, where the saint was widely venerated since around 1100.
  
  Adrian was a Roman officer during the reign of the Emperor Maximian and died as a martyr in 306. He wears a cuirass, caligae - antique leather high sandals – and a long cloak draped over his shoulder. A lion, his faithful companion, crouches at his feet. This warrior with an angelic beauty is armed with a sword and carries an anvil in his left hand, the attribute of his martyrdom.
  
  This rare and wonderful sculpture of Saint Adrian is the fruit of this transitional period between late Mannerism and the beginnings of Baroque art, with the phasing-out of alabaster in favour of marble.
  

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  Attribué à Etienne Le Hongre (1628-1690), France, vers 1685-1690, Allégorie de l’Air. Estimate €150,000–200,000.

  So far unpublished, this bronze is one of the three existing examples of this model cast during the artist’s lifetime. From the Maurice and Humbert Wendel collection, Allégorie de l’air is an important discovery. The marble statue larger than life-size was made by Etienne Le Hongre between 1680 and 1985 as part of the Grande Commande at Versailles.
  
  This personification of the Air, from the series of the Four Elements, is portrayed as a majestic female figure. In a graceful gesture, she raises above her head the cloth that partially concealed her nakedness. Inflated by the wind, like the sail of a vessel, the rim of the cloth floats along her side forming an elegant wavy line. An eagle, Jupiter’s usual attribute, stands to her feet and gazes at her.
  

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  Jean Véber, L’homme aux poupées. Estimate €60,000–80,000.

  This strange and spectacular composition shows a young and beautiful naked woman lying on a bed. On the left, a man in black, thin and pale is looking passionately at a doll he holds in his hands. Around, a multitude of dolls are hanging on the wall, lying on the floor, on the bed or on the man’s knees. He does not look at the woman but at her substitute, object of all his desires and dreams.
  
  Véber approaches a subject that was rather daring at that time, showing a man who seems to reject authorized sexuality and prefer a different and deviant one. The painter was certainly aware of contemporary researches by neurologists, Freud above all, on hysteria, neurosis and obsessions.
  

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  Joseph Chinard (1756-1813), France, vers 1801, Buste de Napoléon Bonaparte, Premier Consul. Estimate €60,000–80,000.
  

  Young hero of the Egyptian campaigns and self-proclaimed First Consul following a coup d’état, Napoléon Bonaparte was only 32 when Chinard modeled his portrait in 1801. Depicted as a military chief, his Herm bust - after the antique models of Roman Emperors - bears the names of Napoleon's early victories illustrating his already dazzling career.
  
  There are approximately eight known examples of this model – all of which lifetime plaster cast. The present bust is certainly one of the rare examples of this model still in private hands.
  

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  Pierre-Paul Prud’hon, Académie de femme debout. Estimate €100,000–150,000.

  Very few of the greatest painters of the neoclassical generation escaped the long shadow of Jacques-Louis David. However, before the Romantic revolution, Prud'hon succeeded more than any in breaking away from this influence, developing a delicate and refined style that is encapsulated in the present drawing.
  
  With its large size and admirable quality, this work – which is in good condition – immediately stands out as an important drawing among those of the artist's académie studies that are still in private hands.
  
  Prud'hon’s académies, portraying both men and women, represented a distinct part of his drawing activity, which he practised throughout his working life and developed to its highest form of expression. As in the case of the present drawing, these are often works in their own right, rather than training exercises or preparatory sketches.
  

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