433 - Charles François Grenier de Lacroix, known as LACROIX DE MARSEILLE (1700–1782)

Charles François Grenier de Lacroix, known as LACROIX DE MARSEILLE (1700–1782) Presumed View of the Port of Genoa Oil on canvas W_158.5 cm x H_111 cm Previous restorations Signed on the barrel in the foreground: “Grenier de Lacroix fecit Romae 1747” Related works: -Lacroix de Marseille (1700–1782), Seascape, 1744, Oil on canvas, 29 x 42 cm, Beaussant Lefèvre auction, June 3, 2016 -Lacroix of Marseille (1700–1782), An Imaginary View with Figures, 1745, Oil on canvas, 64.3 x 48.5 cm, Christie’s New York auction on January 27, 2022 -Lacroix de Marseille (1700–1782), A Mediterranean Port, 1750, Oil on canvas, 94.6 x 167 cm, Toledo Museum of Art. Little is known about the early life and training of Charles-François Grenier de Lacroix, known as Lacroix de Marseille. Although his presence in the Eternal City is documented in 1750—notably through his encounter with the Marquis de Vandières—it is likely that the artist arrived there much earlier. Several of his paintings located in Rome are, in fact, dated prior to 1750. Our painting, dated 1747, is a case in point; it already reveals a confident brushstroke and a solid style, still strongly influenced by the master of the genre, Claude-Joseph Vernet (1714–1789). Having settled in Rome as early as 1734, Vernet gradually established himself there as one of the leading landscape and seascape painters of his generation. It is highly likely that Lacroix was his student or, at the very least, one of his close collaborators, despite the fourteen-year age difference between them. The ties between the two artists are, in any case, well documented: in 1751, Lacroix produced four copies based on Vernet’s compositions, which are of a quality very close to that of the originals. Our painting, which is particularly large in size, reflects the taste of major European collectors for harbor scenes. Developed in Italy by Claude Gellée, known as Le Lorrain, as early as the late 1630s, these harbor compositions found new life in the 18th century under Vernet’s brush, who brought them to life with a mastery of atmospheric effects, light, and figures. After Vernet’s return to France in 1753, Lacroix’s style gradually broke away from that of his elder and increasingly asserted its own distinctive characteristics. Painted in 1747, our painting is today the oldest known composition of this format by the artist. Two paintings presented by the Heim Gallery in 1956 are believed to be dated 1743; there is also a harbor scene dated 1744, as well as an imaginary view painted in Rome in 1745 that recently appeared at Christie’s in New York. In terms of its scale and composition, our painting can be compared to the harbor scene held at the Toledo Museum of Art, signed and dated “Grenier de Lacroix fecit 1750.” This work, painted just three years later, offers a valuable point of comparison for assessing the artistic maturity Lacroix had already attained during his early years in Rome.