Jean-Louis Laneuville

Restés par descendance dans la famille des modèles depuis le 18^ème siècle.
Thence by descent in the family of the sitters since the 18^th century.

(1) Pierre Robillard de Péronville: The catalogue illustration is too light compared to the painting. Good overall condition. The canvas has been correctly relined. Under a thick uniform varnish. Under ultraviolet light: Under a uniform green varnish. There is an horizontal restoration (5 cm) in the hair, on the left of the child face. (2) Amédée Selim Robillard de Péronville: The catalogue illustration is too yellow compared to the painting. Very good overall condition, on its original canvas. Under a uniform varnish. Under ultraviolet light: Under a uniform green varnish. No visible restoration.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Elève de David, Jean-Louis Laneuville, dont on connaît peu d'œuvres, se spécialisa dans le portrait et exécuta une belle série d'effigies de conventionnels parmi lesquels Pierre-François-Joseph Robert (Versailles), Pierre-Charles Ruamps de Surgères, 1792 (New York, collection particulière), Joseph Delaunay, 1793 (Versailles), Louis Legendre, 1795 (Paris, collection particulière) ou également d'hommes politiques des années 1790 tels que le Ministre de l'Intérieur Jules-François Paré, 1795 (Musée Carnavalet). On lui doit aussi quelques portraits plus intimistes dont celui d'un Jeune garçon, signé et daté 1807 (Saint Pétersbourg, Musée de l'Ermitage).

Ces portraits ont souvent été confondus avec ceux de David, présentés sur des fonds monochromes d'une rare qualité. Ils allient à la justesse de l'analyse psychologique une technique éprouvée où cohabitent la précision de la ligne et le moelleux de la matière picturale. Selon des inscriptions au dos des œuvres, les modèles de ces portraits sont Pierre Robillard de Péronville, l'aîné de trois frères, né le 4 août 1786, et Amédée Selim, son frère cadet, né le 4 octobre 1792, ce qui daterait nos tableaux de 1797-98. 

Laneuville est, avec des artistes comme Vestier, Ducreux, Boze et Danloux, l'un des exemples du renouveau du portrait qui occupa la première place à l'époque révolutionnaire. Il faut en effet noter qu'entre 1789 et 1799, les portraits constituaient à eux seuls plus du quart des œuvres exposées au Salon (voir De David à Delacroix, La peinture française de 1774 à 1830, cat. d'exp., Grand Palais, Paris, novembre 1974 - février 1975, p. 517).


PORTRAIT OF PIERRE ROBILLARD DE PERONVILLE (1786-1812) ;
PORTRAIT OF HIS BROTHER, AMEDEE SELIM ROBILLARD DE PERONVILLE (1792-1808)

The first signed lower right
Oil on canvas, a pair

A pupil of David, Jean-Louis Laneuville, whose work is now very rare, specialised as a portrait painter. He painted a fine series of likenesses of the Members of the Convention, including P.-F.-J. Robert (Versailles), P.-Ch. Ruamps de Surgeres, 1792 (Private Collection, New York), J. Delaunay, 1793 (Versailles) and L. Legendre, 1795 (Paris, Private Collection), as well as portraits of the political figures of the 1790s such as the Minister of the Intérieur J.-F. Paré, 1795 (Paris, Musée Carnavalet). Other less formal portraits by his hand are also known, among them his 'Portrait of a young boy' of 1807 today in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

These portraits, set against monochrome backgrounds and rendered with considerable skill, are often confused with those of David himself. His style married penetrating likeness with a practised technique that combined a precise linearity with soft modelling. According to inscriptions on the back of the works, the sitters are Pierre Robillard de Péronville, the elder of three brothers, born on 4 August 1786, and Amédée Selim, the younger, born on 4 October 1792 ; this would date these paintings to around 1797-98.

Laneuville, along with painters such as Vestier, Ducreux, Boze and Danloux, exemplifies the revival of the portrait which gained such prominence in the Revolutionary era. It should be noted that portraits alone constituted more than a quarter of all the works exhibited at the Salon between 1789 and 1799 (see De David à Delacroix, la peinture française de 1774 à 1830, exh. cat., Grand Palais, Paris, novembre 1974 - février 1975, p. 517).