As September begins, we are delighted to present to you our new exhibition devoted to the “French taste.”
The journey begins with a very subtle Virgin and Child by Jacques Stella. Active under the reign of Louis XIII and herald of Atticism, Stella gives us this touching and almost profane scene in the relation of the mother and her child in this devotional painting made on copper.
The art of portraiture is not left aside with a painting by Louis Ferdinand Elle representing Michel Le Tellier, who became Chancellor of France at the very beginning of the reign of Louis XIV. Great statesman and defender of the monarchy, he is sketched from life by the artist at his work table with a great psychological sharpness.
The still life of the Grand Siècle will also be very present with this beautiful vase of flowers on an entablature by Jacques-Samuel Bernard, evoking the passing of time and the fragility of life.
Nicolas de Largillierre will be in celebration with a portrait of a very elegant gentleman in a velvet cape as well as that of Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy Duchess of Burgundy (future mother of Louis XV) coming from the royal collections of Louis-Philippe at the Château d’Eu.
The journey to Italy will be evoked by a view of the banks of the Tiber from the Ponte Cestio, animated with figures by the vedutista painter Paolo Anesi.
Our exhibition continues with a superb gallant scene in a park by Nicolas Lancret who reinvents nature with vaporous effects under the influence of Antoine Watteau.
A pair of architectural capricci by Giovanni Paolo Panini carries us once again into the eternal city by visiting the Trajan Column and the Colosseum. This artist active in the first third of the 18th century will durably mark Hubert Robert (and his contemporaries) who made ancient ruins his specialty.
A beautiful rediscovery in the corpus of Jean-Marc Nattier transports us under the reign of Louis XV with this refined portrait of a lady in a blue cape. The model addresses us with her ivy strap, symbol of constancy and fidelity of feelings.
We then move into the Romantic period with a little jewel on canvas with almost porcelain-like rendering by the painter Paul Gavarni, representing the young Victor Hugo in his armchair. Imbued with a certain melancholy and with a gaze assured and of a keen intelligence, this virtuosic portrait announces the arrival of the great man and of a poet who is going to mark the 19th century.
We will finish our visit with a small landscape by Jacques Emile Blanche, atypical work of a worldly artist who rather made himself known by his portraits of high society at the Belle Époque.
You are welcome starting September 18 at the gallery to come discover our beautiful “harvest” of unpublished works.
Alexis Bordes