Estimation:
€20,000 - €30,000
Sold :
€26,000
Lot details
L'après-midi : Vue du Forum romain avec les Temples de Saturne et de Vespasien et Le matin : Vue du Forum romain avec l'Arc de Constantin et le Colisé
Paire d'aquarelles gouachées
Signées 'LALLEMAND f' sur le premier et 'lallemand' sur le second, en bas à droite
Afternoon and Morning, gouached watercolour, a pair, signed, by J. B. Lallemand
Provenance:
Collection du comte Charles de Lesseps ;
Sa vente, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 2 décembre 1937, n° 44 ;
Galerie Koller, Zurich, 1er juin 1973 ;
Collection Dr. Dieter Bührle ;
Puis par descendance, collection particulière, Suisse ;
Vente anonyme; Londres, Christie's, 7 juillet 2015, n° 55 ;
Acquis lors de cette vente par l'actuel propriétaire ;
Collection particulière européenne
Exhibitions:
'L'Art français au XVIIIe siècle', Copenhague, Château de Charlottenborg, 1935, n° 410
Comment:
Un long séjour à Rome marque profondément tout artiste. Lallemand y a séjournée quatorze ans ! Il est aisé d'imaginer qu'à son retour le dijonnais se sentait plus italien que français. Sa parfaite immersion dans le quotidien romain se manifeste en admirant ces deux remarquables gouaches, parmi les plus belles et sensibles productions de l'artiste pourtant prolifique. Admirons l'atmosphère chaude et déjà pesante de cette journée d'été, la poussière formant un nuage derrière le passage des bovidés mais aussi et surtout la parfaite utilisation des motifs architecturaux. Lallemand est fidèle mais imaginatif : il fait un usage talentueux des grandioses témoignages de la Rome antique en les positionnant dans l'espace comme il convient pour nous présenter des compositions parfaitement harmonieuses. Ainsi le Colisée est placé légèrement plus en retrait de l'arc de Constantin et de la Meta Sudans afin d'offrir une perspective plus gracile. La recette est la même pour le pendant au sein duquel le temple de Saturne est avancé au premier plan alors que le tabularium sur lequel repose le palais du Capitole et les trois colonnes du temple de Vespasien sont laissés dans le fond afin d'aérer la perspective. La figure du Dieu fleuve positionnée à gauche reprenant le Nil placé au pied de l'escalier du palais des sénateurs renforce le côté anecdotique d'un forum Boarium devenu champs de fouilles.
A long time spent in Rome has a profound effect on any artist. Lallemand spent 14 years there! It is easy to imagine that on his return, this artist from Dijon felt more Italian than French. His full immersion in Roman life manifests itself in these two remarkable gouaches which are among the most beautiful and sensitive works produced by an artist who was moreover prolific. We should admire the warm atmosphere, already heavy, of this summer's day, the dust forming a cloud behind the passing cows but also and above all the perfect use of architectural motifs. Lallemand is faithful but imaginative: with talent, he has used the grandiose remains of ancient Rome by positioning them in space so as to present perfectly harmonious compositions to the viewer. In this way, the Coliseum is placed slightly further back from the Arch of Constantine and the Meta Sudans in order to offer a more gracious perspective. The same system is used for the pendant in which the temple of Saturn is brought forward to the foreground while the tabularium on which sit the Capitoline palaces and the three columns of the temple of Vespasian are left in the background so as to give air to the composition. The figure of the river god on the left, which repeats the Nile sculpture located beneath the Palazzo Senatorio, reinforces the anecdotal aspect of a Forum Boarium that has become an excavation site.
A long time spent in Rome has a profound effect on any artist. Lallemand spent 14 years there! It is easy to imagine that on his return, this artist from Dijon felt more Italian than French. His full immersion in Roman life manifests itself in these two remarkable gouaches which are among the most beautiful and sensitive works produced by an artist who was moreover prolific. We should admire the warm atmosphere, already heavy, of this summer's day, the dust forming a cloud behind the passing cows but also and above all the perfect use of architectural motifs. Lallemand is faithful but imaginative: with talent, he has used the grandiose remains of ancient Rome by positioning them in space so as to present perfectly harmonious compositions to the viewer. In this way, the Coliseum is placed slightly further back from the Arch of Constantine and the Meta Sudans in order to offer a more gracious perspective. The same system is used for the pendant in which the temple of Saturn is brought forward to the foreground while the tabularium on which sit the Capitoline palaces and the three columns of the temple of Vespasian are left in the background so as to give air to the composition. The figure of the river god on the left, which repeats the Nile sculpture located beneath the Palazzo Senatorio, reinforces the anecdotal aspect of a Forum Boarium that has become an excavation site.
