Jean-Baptiste Regnault

Anonymous sale, Paris, Millon & Robert, 29 November 1991, lot 333;
With Richard Feigen, New York;
From whom purchased by the present owner.

New York, Richard L. Feigen & Co., Neo-Classicism and Romanticism in French Painting 1774-1826, 10 May-15 July 1994, no. 50.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has a very old glue lining, which is still actively supporting the original canvas. The original canvas is made from three sections. There is one join through the hair of the male figure just above his ear, and another join running through the back of the head of the hound in the lower right. There are restorations along both of these original canvas joins, and these restorations have discolored. However, the condition is remarkably good throughout the remainder of the picture, with the exception of a restoration above the dog's head in the lower right. This is clearly a picture that has been very well cared for and carefully maintained. Some adjustments to the retouches are required, particularly in the sky, but the condition is excellent.
"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."

This monumental canvas depicting Venus and Adonis can be counted among the small number of extant large scale mythological works by Regnault, who in the latter part of the 18th century was among the most popular artists in France. Though the early provenance of this picture remains unknown, its absence from Regnault's rather complete posthumous studio inventory would suggest that it was purchased during the artist's lifetime. A now lost study of the same subject was sold in Regnault's posthumous sale (1-3 March 1830), and may very well have been the study work for the present canvas. 

Christopher Sells has previously dated Venus and Adonis to circa 1787-90, based on close stylistic similarities with his dated (1787) Iphigenia (Musée des Beaux Arts, Marseille), which employs a similar handling of the drapery and careful attention to detail, especially in the hair and facial features of the figures.¹ Most of the remaining late large scale paintings by the artist are now in museums, particularly American institutions. These include Perseus (J.B. Speed Museum, Louisville), The Judgement of Paris (Detroit Institute of Arts), Cupid Asleep on the Breast of Psyche (Art Institute of Chicago), as well as Io Seduced by Jupiter in the Musée des beaux-arts, Brest and The Three Graces in the Louvre. 

Regnault exhibited regularly in the Salons from 1783-1802, during which time he emerged as a leading figure in the neoclassical style, and the principal rival to Jacques Louis David. Beginning in 1803, he rather abruptly ceased showing at the Salons, and withdrew from public life, during which time he almost exclusively executed works such as the present canvas: mythological subjects on a monumental scale, displaying a highly personal reinterpretation of the neoclassical style. Almost always, the artist features softly rounded figures with pearly velvety flesh tones which play off against swaths of luxuriously rendered materials. These pictures were often executed for the artists own artistic satisfaction as no public commissions for works of this size are recorded, and many private homes of the time could rarely accommodate such large pictures. Through his preference for the mythological scene, Regnault was able to capitalize on the depiction of the female form in a variety of scenes, and his success in depicting the mythological female form as supremely sensual and elegant is apparent throughout his oeuvre. Regnault's preference for the use of primary colors should also be noted, as it allowed him to contrast the soft flesh tones of his figures with the luminosity in the draperies to create maximum contrast and bold color schemes.²

1. Private communication, 1994.
2. French Painting 1774-1830: The Age of Revolution, exhibition catalogue, Paris, Detroit and New York 1974, p. 577.