| | | | | | | | Document | Sale Catalog F-A1042 | |
| Sale Location | Rue de Cléry, no. 96, en la salle du Citoyen Lebrun, Paris, France | | Seller(s) | from catalog: [Aucun] | | Expert | Lebrun, Jean-Baptiste-Pierre | | Lugt Number | 4976 | | No. of Painting Lots | 14 | | Notes | The date printed on the title page is Monday, January 11, 1793, but the dates for viewing the collection were Saturday and Sunday, February 9 and 10. The correct date for the sale was therefore February 11, which fell on a Monday, rather than January 11, which did not. The sale consisted of just 19 lots, 14 of which were paintings and the rest decorative objects. No owner is mentioned, but the title page includes the phrase "à vendre en vértu de la Loi," signifying that the owner was perhaps bankrupt, or the object of prosecution under the new Republican government. The auction's small size also suggests that everything belonged to one person.. There are only a few inconclusive clues to his (or her) identity. Two of the paintings, lot 15 by Vernet and lot 36 by Taunay, had been purchased by "Martin" at a sale organized by the same expert, J.B.P. Lebrun, just one year earlier on Jan.30 ff., 1792. He is possibly identifiable as the painter Guillaume Martin (1737-1800), who bought a few other paintings in 1793 and 1794 at Lebrun sales, and was the only person of this name recorded on the Parisian market during these years. However, two other lots in the sale, nos.8 & 9 by Vernet, had come from a sale held by Lebrun in 1787, at which they had been knocked down to Lebrun and the dealer Saubert, so no firm conclusions can be drawn.
The paintings were generally unremarkable, with the notable exception of a group of eight canvasses by Claude Joseph Vernet, all of which were apparently signed and dated. Because no annotated catalogues from the sale have survived, the results are unknown, but one of the canvasses by Vernet, no.11, a Port Scene with a Fire , reappeared just two months later on April 29 ff. in the sale of paintings belonging to the dealer Vincent Donjeux - also organized by Lebrun - where it brought 1591 livres. From this one may conclude that the other paintings by Vernet were probably of comparable importance. At least one other lot from the present sale, no.5 by Metsu, also reappeared with Donjeux, implying he must have been one of the principal buyers. Only one painting has been identified: The painting by Taunay, a Rural scene in Italy with a monk blessing the animals , is now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nancy. (B. Fredericksen) | | Catalog Location(s) | AAP I Not annot.
AAP II Not annot.
FLNY Not annot. Formerly LRB.
BPG I Expert's copy but not annot. It probably belonged to the dealer J.B.P. Lebrun.
BPG II Expert's copy but not annot. | | See Also | Sale Contents | | | Art Sales Catalogues Online | | | Digitized Catalog - INHA | | | Digitized Catalog - Frick | | | |
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