Claude-Joseph Vernet

E. Milnes Gaskell;
Sale, London, Christie’s, 6 May 1927, lot 102 ("A Calm; and a Storm; Bay scenes with boats and figures – a pair");
Where acquired by Halleyn;
Roger Ehrhardt de Schiltigheim;
Sale, Paris, 16 February 1939, lot 16 (with its pendant as lot 17);
Sale, Paris, Galérie Charpentier, 15 December 1959, lot 33.

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 picture is in very good condition. The canvas has an old lining which in turn has received reinforcements around the edges to improve the stretching of the work. There is a conspicuous lack of abrasion to the paint layer throughout. There are restorations around the seagulls in the golden part of the lower sky. Also in the sky, there are three vertical lines of retouching in the upper center and a few isolated spots of retouching in the darker cloud in the upper right. In the foreground, there is one retouch above the lone rowboat on the left side. The darkest colors in the foreground have also understandably received some small retouches. The painting looks very impressive and should be hung in its current state.
"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."

Signed and dated 1747, this tranquil scene of a harbor in the morning fog was executed while Vernet was in Rome, where he had settled in 1734. The artist was elected to the Accademia di San Luca in 1743 and approved (agréé) by the Academie Royale in Paris three years later, just before he executed the present picture.  By this time, the public was well acquainted with his work and his reputation had been established amongst the local French community as well as the Roman nobility and visitors on the Grand Tour. 

Vernet remained in Italy until 1753; it was during his time there that he developed the compositional vocabulary and painterly style that were to serve him so well throughout his long career.  Vernet's paintings from this period were mostly imaginary landscapes or coastal views incorporating realistic landmarks and figures suggesting southern Italy.  What made these views remarkable was his ability to evoke not simply a place and time of day, but a particular atmosphere and mood as well.  

The majority of Vernet's marine compositions explore mankind's precarious relationship with nature, either celebrating the sea as a serene passage ripe with bountiful harvest or demonstrating man's fragility in the face of nature's wrath. The present work demonstrates the former, with fishermen setting off in the morning fog for a day’s work, the sea serene and welcoming as the sun begins to warm the clouds above.  While the exact location is not identifiable, the scene’s sense of familiarity and timelessness encapsulate Vernet’s remarkable painting skills.  

Characteristically, this painting was originally conceived as a pair; the present canvas, depicting a calm, morning sky and tranquil waters, was intended to compliment a storm scene.  The works remained together until their sale in 1959, and the location of the pendant is unknown. 

A similar composition by the artist, signed and dated 1747, was in the collection of Louis Grandchamp des Raux, sold Paris, Sotheby's, 26 March 2015, lot 24.  At the time of the sale, the provenance for the Grandchamp painting was confused with that of the present work.