| | | | | | | | Document | Sale Catalog F-A1025 | |
| Sale Location | La grande Salle des ventes de l'hôtel de Bullion, rue J.J. Rousseau, Paris, France | | Seller(s) | Brongniart, Alexandre-Théodore
Saint-Aubin
Lucay
etc.
from catalog: [Aucun]
from auctioneer's copy: Brogniart; St. Aubin; Lucay; etc.
from other sources: [Brongniart, architecte] | | Expert | Paillet, Alexandre-Joseph | | Commissaire-Priseur | Boileau, Louis-François-Jacques | | Lugt Number | 4882 | | No. of Painting Lots | 184 | | Notes | The duration of this sale is not specified on the title page of the catalogue, but the introduction, presumably written by the presiding expert, A.J. Paillet, states that it would last three days. The contents were 87 lots of paintings - primarily French, Dutch and Flemish, with the French school following the Italian and given precedence over the Dutch and Flemish, as was Paillet's custom - followed by 31 lots of drawings, almost entirely by recent French artists, 8 lots of French gouaches and miniatures, 27 lots of terracotta statuary, all but three of which were by Clodion, 8 lots of miscellaneous sculpture, 17 lots of furniture and decorative objects and two lots of prints. In addition, more than fifty objects were sold as part of the last lot, no.177, a catchall for items not included in the printed catalogue.
The catalogue does not give the name of the consigner[s], but Paillet's introduction does refer to "un Artiste habile" who had recently suffered losses, presumably financial, that had forced him to cease collecting. Paillet also apologizes for having described the objects in the sale, which he calls "capitaux," in too little detail. Fortunately, the title page of the AAP copy of the catalogue is annotated, perhaps by the commissaire-priseur L.F.J. Boileau, with the name of the principal owner, "Brogniart, architecte," by whom Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart (1739-1813) is meant. During the early years of the Revolutionary period Brongniart had indeed undergone a series of professional disappointments caused primarily by the loss of patrons and a lack of commissions, and more difficult times were just ahead: In October 1792, seven months after the present sale, Brongniart would lose his position as Inspecteur aux Invalides, and the following year the Académie d'Architecture would be suppressed by the Revolutionary government. In April 1793 Brongniart was forced to quit Paris, going to Bordeaux, where he was commissioned to design a theatre. However, by 1795 he was able to return to Paris, eventually re-establishing his reputation and receiving some prestigious commissions by the newly-crowned emperor.
The annotator of the AAP catalogue has also marked each of the lots with the name of its owner, designating Brongniart with the letter "B," and from these one learns that roughly half of the lots - ninety-eight - were his property. For the most part these were not the lots that fetched the best prices, but they included most of the French paintings and furniture, as well as all of the terracotta sculpture by Clodion. Brongniart had earlier collaborated with Clodion on architectural projects, and the terra cottas in his collection were probably models for decorative elements to be placed within them. He also owned a number of paintings by Hubert Robert and a group of four canvasses executed by Eustache Le Sueur for the Hôtel Lambert, all of which had been originally designed to decorate interiors. (The paintings by Le Sueur are now in a French private collection.) Brongniart is not recorded as a purchaser at auctions, but some of his paintings can be traced to sales during the 1760s and 1770s, and many of the later French pictures had no doubt come directly from the artists.
The next largest consignment, consisting of 35 lots, belonged to "St. Aubin." It is not clear which St. Aubin this was, since the best known members of the family, such as Gabriel de St. Aubin, had died many years earlier. Whatever his identity, he was probably still alive since two of his lots were bought (or bought in) by someone of the same name, and he also purchased the four paintings by Le Sueur belonging to Brongniart. However, he does not seem to have been a dealer since his activity is only documented at the present sale.
Some of the most successful lots in the sale were the property of a certain Lucay, whose known activity is limited to this sale. Lot 67, a scene of battling soldiers on horseback by Berchem, was bought by Paillet for 4010 livres, the highest price at the sale, and lot 69, a landscape with peasants by Isaac van Ostade, was sold to the dealer Hamon for 3600 livres. (The present location of both pictures is unknown.) Lucay must have acquired the painting by Berchem very recently since it had appeared at an auction just three years earlier, but on the whole almost nothing is known about him as collector. (He was also buying at this sale.) Other consigners to the sale included the dealers Nicolas Lerouge and Vincent Donjeux.
Aside from the four canvasses by Le Sueur mentioned above, a few more pictures in the sale have been traced. Lot 64, depicting Heliodorus Driven from the Temple , thought to be by Gerard de Lairesse and consigned by Brongniart, is now in the Musées royaux in Brussels as the work of Bertholet Flemal. Lot 71, a Landscape with a Cottage and Chickens by Jan Wijnants and belonging to "LeRoy," is now in the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg. Lot 74, an interior with a lady and a child by Netscher that was consigned by Donjeux, is now in the Boymans-Van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam as a work of Joost van Geel. (B. Fredericksen) | | Catalog Location(s) | AAP [photocopy in Provenance Index Sales Files] Annot. with all sellers, buyers and prices. There are also 6 pages of added lots.
BAm Annot. with many prices.
ESP Annot. with a few prices for the paintings only.
LP Not annot.
RKDH [photocopy in Provenance Index Sales Files] Not annot. Presumably ex-NP.
BPG Not annot. It probably belonged to the dealer J.B.P. Lebrun. | | See Also | Sale Contents | | | Art Sales Catalogues Online | | | Digitized Catalog - INHA | | | |
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