Alfred De Dreux

Acquired by the family of the present owner by the mid-nineteenth century; thence by descent

Marie-Christine Renauld, Alfred De Dreux, Arles, 2008, p. 265, the lithograph illustrated; p. 248, a detail of the lithograph illustrated; p. 251, the lithograph listed (with date of publication 14 December 1850); Alfred De Dreux catalogue raisonné, p. 103, the lithograph catalogued & illustrated

The following condition report has been provided by Hamish Dewar Ltd, 13 & 14 Mason's Yard, London SW1Y 6BU: UNCONDITIONAL AND WITHOUT PREJUDICE Structural Condition The canvas is unlined and is providing an even and secure structural support with one small patch in the lower left quadrant as viewed from the reverse. Paint surface The paint surface has an even varnish layer. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows retouchings, the most significant of which is a long very thin diagonal line in the lower right of the composition, running across the dog, which covers a scratch with an additional very small repaired L-shaped tear running off this line, in the dog's hind-quarters. There are other very minimal spots and lines of inpainting. Summary The painting is therefore in good and stable condition and no further work is required.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Painted circa 1842-45.

In both its scale and quality of execution, L'Entrée au bois is a masterpiece by Alfred De Dreux, and a significant rediscovery. The present work has hung in the home of the present owners for over one hundred and fifty years, apparently unseen by the public. Until now it was known only from a large lithograph measuring 80 by 57cm of circa 1842-45, published by Goupil & Cie. Recorded as a lithographie d’interprétation, the print was therefore presumed to be after an unrecorded oil, which now comes to light.

L'Entrée au bois was painted at the height of De Dreux’s career. In 1842 the artist received his first official commission from the French State, for the Portrait équestre du duc Ferdinand d’Orléans (commissioned for Versailles, now Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux). In the 1850s De Dreux was equally in favour with Napoleon III, of whom he painted three large portraits between 1852-55 (two of which are in the Musée national de Compiègne, and Musée de l’Armée in Paris respectively). In 1844, the artist joined King Louis-Philippe’s state visit to London, executing a composition depicting Queen Victoria and the ‘Roi des Français’ riding side-by-side in the park of Windsor Castle (fig. 1). Although L’Entrée au bois clearly bears comparison to the stature of these official portraits, as a depiction of a romantic tryst of monumental dimensions the work is unique in the artist’s oeuvre.

In the mid-19^th Century Alfred De Dreux was synonymous with the depiction of the horse in all its powerful energy and spiritual intensity, just as Gericault had been before him. De Dreux knew Gericault personally through his uncle Pierre-Joseph Dedreux-Dorcy, and was himself portrayed by Gericault in a small number of works which include an intimate oil of circa 1819-20 now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Ever loyal to his gifted friend, Dedreux-Dorcy was the buyer of Gericault’s The Raft of the Medusa (Musée du Louvre, Paris) on the artist’s death, when the French state initially refused to raise their offer.

As much a portrait of the horses as of the riders themselves, the present work bristles with the animals’ steely energy, as De Dreux brilliantly captures the light and textures of the horses' coats, the woman’s elegantly flowing dress, and the verdure of the luscious setting.