Claude Gellée, dit Le Lorrain

Porte un numéro à la plume en bas à droite (probablement Collection Crozat): 37

M. Roethlisberger, 'Additional Works by Goffredo Wals and Claude Lorrain', in The Burlington Magazine, janvier 1979, pp. 24, 27, no. 910, reproduit figs. 35 et 37

The following condition report has been provided by Caroline Corrigan, 17-25 rue Charles Graindorge, 93170 Bagnolet, Tel: 33 (0)1 43 63 25 44, Email : caroline.corrigan@wanadoo.fr, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. Generally in good condition. Some light pin-pricks throughout. The ink from the drawing on the verso is visible in the left part of the sky.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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."

Ayant quitté sa Lorraine natale, Claude Gellée partit à Rome vers 1613 où il fit la rencontre de Tassi. Il séjourna ensuite à Naples vers 1619-22, auprès de Goffredo Wals. Quelques années plus tard, l'artiste regagna Nancy pour y assister Claude Deruet dans la réalisation de fresques à sujets architecturaux pour l'église des Carmélites. Dès 1627, Le Lorrain retourna s'installer définitivement à Rome et parvint à s'y imposer comme l'un des plus grands paysagistes de sa génération.

Le dessin que nous présentons peut être situé selon Marcel Roethlisberger au début des années 1630, alors que l'artiste se passionnait peu à peu pour Rome et la campagne environnante dont il en étudiait les effets de lumière et d'atmosphère. Le Lorrain multiplia alors les paysages au caractère poétique et intimiste, tel notre dessin qui compte parmi les rares vues côtières nous étant parvenues à ce jour. Joachim von Sandrart disait de l'artiste : « Jaloux d'atteindre les secrets de l'art et les mystères de la nature, Claude Gellée était dehors avant le jour, il y restait jusqu'à la nuit pour saisir toutes les nuances des heures crépusculaires et les rendre ensuite exactement ».¹

On retrouve par ailleurs un filigrane dans le bas de la feuille qui correspond à celui utilisé par le maître dans son Liber Veritatis, inventaire de l'ensemble de son oeuvre qu'il entreprit en 1635.

1. Bénézit, Paris 1999, t. 8, p. 805.


RECTO: A CASTLE BY A RIVER
VERSO: STUDIES OF LANDSCAPES

Pen and brown ink (recto and verso), brown wash (recto)

Claude left his native Lorraine for Rome in around 1613, where he first met Agostino Tassi.  He went on to live in Naples circa 1619-22, becoming close to Goffredo Wals.  Some years later, he returned to Nancy to assist Claude Deruet in the production of architectural frescoes for the Carmelite church.  From 1627, Claude returned permanently to Rome, and became one of the greatest landscape artists of his generation.

This double-sided drawing may, according to Marcel Roethlisberger, be dated to the 1630s, the point at which the artist was falling in love with Rome and the campagna and was studying their light and atmosphere.  Claude created numerous landscapes of a poetic and intimate character: the present work may be seen as one of the rare coastal views executed by the artist at this date.  Joachim von Sandrart said of the artist : 'Impatient to achieve the secrets of art and the mysteries of nature, Claude Gellée was outside before day-break and stayed there until night-fall, to experience the nuances of the twilight, and render them perfectly.'

The watermark at the bottom of the sheet corresponds to those found in Claude's Liber Veritatis of 1635.

1. Benezit, Paris 1999, vol. 8, p. 805.