Tag Archives: Lund Humphries

BOOK REVIEW: AMERICA COLLECTS EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH PAINTING

AMERICA COLLECTS EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH PAINTING

Yuriko Jackall et al
£50.00 GBP
ISBN: 9781848222342

 

Regular readers will have ascertained that I am drawn to the arts of 18th century France in all their forms and so it will come as no surprise that I am bringing this book to your attention.  American collectors such as the Wrightsmans, Forsyth Wickes and others have long held my interest and now here is the chance to celebrate Americans collecting French 18th century paintings through this well-illustrated volume.

 

Through a series of essays by noted authors and scholars such as Pierre Rosenberg, Robert Schindler, Joseph J. Rishel and Susan Earle various aspects of American collecting and taste are discussed. I am particularly grateful for the piece on Eugenia Woodward Hitt of whom I had known little. This is a book which I will return to again and again with relish.

 

www.lundhumphries.com

BOOK REVIEW: HUBERT ROBERT

Hubert Robert

Margaret Morgan Grasselli and Yuriko Jackall with contributions from Guillaume Faroult and Catherine Voiriot

£45.00 GBP
Lund Humphries
ISBN: 9781848221918

hubert-robert-2d-cover-lores

This is a wonderful celebration of this multi-faceted artist and draftsman, Hubert Robert (1733-1808), who could also turn his hand to being an interior decorator and garden architect, including designs for the Queen’s Dairy at Rambouillet for Marie Antoinette.  We are fortunate that while the book has been published to coincide with the exhibition in Washington DC’s National Gallery of Art which ends at the beginning of October it will have a very long and useful life as a stand-alone reference work thanks to the scholarship and up-to-date research that the authors and contributors bring to it.

 

His time in Rome, where he met and became friends with Fragonard, Panini and Piranesi, led to his penchant for depicting ruins often peopled with figures and for which he became known as ‘Robert des ruines’. He received the support of wealthy patrons and in 1784 was appointed ‘Keeper of the Museum’ (the future Louvre Museum).  He was imprisoned for a while after the French Revolution but on his release continued with a series of paintings depicting the Louvre’s Grande Galerie.

Hubert Robert (1733-1808). Painting Gallery Being Used as an Artist's Studio, 1789 Paris, Musée du Louvre. RF1938-69.

Hubert Robert (1733-1808).
Painting Gallery Being Used as an Artist’s Studio, 1789
Paris, Musée du Louvre. RF1938-69.

I have long been interested in 18th century French art and have enjoyed seeing works by artist such as Boucher, Greuze, Fragonard, Vigée- Le Brun and so on, but my favourite has always been Robert.  To me he captures the spirit of the time perfectly and while his works are out of my reach I now have the great pleasure of this book to enjoy.

Hubert Robert (1733-1808) Burning of Rome, c. 1771 Musée d'Art Moderne André Malraux, Le Havre

Hubert Robert (1733-1808)
Burning of Rome, c. 1771
Musée d’Art Moderne André Malraux, Le Havre

 

http://www.lundhumphries.com