Description
Jean - Baptiste MONNOYER (Lille 1636 - London 1699) A lapis vase mounted in gold filled with flowers placed on an entablature decorated with a bas-relief representing a Triumph Canvas 82 x 106.5 cm Provenance : Cabinet of Mr. Lollier (Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer) ; Sale J.B. Pierre Lebrun, Paris, 1 October 1806, n°160 (Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer and Sébastien Bourdon) (Lugt 7152) ; Sale after death of the Marquis du Blaisel, Paris, Hotel des ventes, rue Drouot, 16-17 March 1870, n°40 (Jean-Baptiste Blin de Fontenay) ; Acquired at this sale by the family of the present owners. This is a very important painting by Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer, as much for its exceptional state of preservation as for its provenance. It belongs to the first period of Monnoyer's work, around 1660-1665. This is evidenced by the presence of certain floral varieties, which Monnoyer tended to abandon later on (simple anemones, peonies, nasturtiums). It can easily be compared to several masterpieces of this period: - the reception piece at the Academy of Painting and Sculpture (1665) (Flowers, fruits and objects of art, canvas, 146 x 190 cm, Montpellier, Musée Fabre, see E. Coatalem, La nature morte française au XVIIème, Dijon, 2014, reproduced pp. 278-279) - the painting from Tours, Fleurs dans un vase en albâtre, 136 x 106 cm, Tours, Musée des Beaux-Arts (see R. Fohr, Inventaire des collections publiques, Tours, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Richelieu, Musée municipal, Azay-le-Ferron, Château, Tableaux français et italiens du XVIIème siècle, Paris, 1982, n°52 reproduced) - the painting in Caen, Fleurs dans une cuvette d'argent ciselé posée sur un entablement sculpté, canvas, 144 x 199 cm, Caen, Musée des Beaux-Arts (see F. Debaisieux, Caen Musée des Beaux-Arts, peintures françaises des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, Paris, 2000, n°67 reproduced) - the Lille painting, Des ruines antiques avec des plantes près d'un portique, en partie caché d'une draperie, support l'une grande vasque ornée de fleurs, l'autre un vase en or, canvas, 144 x 208 cm, Lille, musée des Beaux-Arts. Its history is remarkable: Lebrun specifies that it comes from the cabinet of M. Lollier, even if the painting does not appear in the Lollier sale of 1789, then it appears in the second sale of the great expert and merchant Jean-Baptiste Pierre Lebrun of October 1, 1806, under the number 160 and it is presented under the name of Baptiste and Sebastien Bourdon. The painting represents "A blue-lapis porcelain vase, mounted in gilt bronze, filled with roses, poppies & other flowers. Two bas-reliefs in grisaille, of which the Triumph in a chariot is executed by Bourdon". The attribution to "Baptiste" as well as the collaboration with Sébastien Bourdon are however lost to his pupil Jean-Baptiste Blin de Fontenay (1653 - 1715) during the sale in 1870 of the collection of the Marquis du Blaisel, where one is no longer able to recognize the theme of the bas-relief, which is reduced to the careless mention of "mythological subject". We thank Claudia Salvi for her help in attributing this painting, which she will include in the Catalogue Raisonné of Monnoyer's work that she is currently preparing. A complete study of our painting, written by Claudia Salvi, can be sent to anyone who requests it.
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Jean - Baptiste MONNOYER (Lille 1636 - London 1699) A lapis vase mounted in gold filled with flowers placed on an entablature decorated with a bas-relief representing a Triumph Canvas 82 x 106.5 cm Provenance : Cabinet of Mr. Lollier (Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer) ; Sale J.B. Pierre Lebrun, Paris, 1 October 1806, n°160 (Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer and Sébastien Bourdon) (Lugt 7152) ; Sale after death of the Marquis du Blaisel, Paris, Hotel des ventes, rue Drouot, 16-17 March 1870, n°40 (Jean-Baptiste Blin de Fontenay) ; Acquired at this sale by the family of the present owners. This is a very important painting by Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer, as much for its exceptional state of preservation as for its provenance. It belongs to the first period of Monnoyer's work, around 1660-1665. This is evidenced by the presence of certain floral varieties, which Monnoyer tended to abandon later on (simple anemones, peonies, nasturtiums). It can easily be compared to several masterpieces of this period: - the reception piece at the Academy of Painting and Sculpture (1665) (Flowers, fruits and objects of art, canvas, 146 x 190 cm, Montpellier, Musée Fabre, see E. Coatalem, La nature morte française au XVIIème, Dijon, 2014, reproduced pp. 278-279) - the painting from Tours, Fleurs dans un vase en albâtre, 136 x 106 cm, Tours, Musée des Beaux-Arts (see R. Fohr, Inventaire des collections publiques, Tours, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Richelieu, Musée municipal, Azay-le-Ferron, Château, Tableaux français et italiens du XVIIème siècle, Paris, 1982, n°52 reproduced) - the painting in Caen, Fleurs dans une cuvette d'argent ciselé posée sur un entablement sculpté, canvas, 144 x 199 cm, Caen, Musée des Beaux-Arts (see F. Debaisieux, Caen Musée des Beaux-Arts, peintures françaises des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, Paris, 2000, n°67 reproduced) - the Lille painting, Des ruines antiques avec des plantes près d'un portique, en partie caché d'une draperie, support l'une grande vasque ornée de fleurs, l'autre un vase en or, canvas, 144 x 208 cm, Lille, musée des Beaux-Arts. Its history is remarkable: Lebrun specifies that it comes from the cabinet of M. Lollier, even if the painting does not appear in the Lollier sale of 1789, then it appears in the second sale of the great expert and merchant Jean-Baptiste Pierre Lebrun of October 1, 1806, under the number 160 and it is presented under the name of Baptiste and Sebastien Bourdon. The painting represents "A blue-lapis porcelain vase, mounted in gilt bronze, filled with roses, poppies & other flowers. Two bas-reliefs in grisaille, of which the Triumph in a chariot is executed by Bourdon". The attribution to "Baptiste" as well as the collaboration with Sébastien Bourdon are however lost to his pupil Jean-Baptiste Blin de Fontenay (1653 - 1715) during the sale in 1870 of the collection of the Marquis du Blaisel, where one is no longer able to recognize the theme of the bas-relief, which is reduced to the careless mention of "mythological subject". We thank Claudia Salvi for her help in attributing this painting, which she will include in the Catalogue Raisonné of Monnoyer's work that she is currently preparing. A complete study of our painting, written by Claudia Salvi, can be sent to anyone who requests it.
