Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld

Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 9 July 1999, lot 57;
There acquired by the present collector for $232,738.

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 work is in wonderful condition. The canvas has been nicely lined. The only retouches address a few cracks in the extreme lower right corner. The work can be hung as is.
"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."

Bidauld first traveled to Italy in 1785 and was encouraged by the marine painter and landscapist Claude-Joseph Vernet to paint en plein air, completing sketches outdoors that could later be worked up into finished paintings.  These Italian drawings would serve as the basis for the artist's paintings even after he returned to France in 1790, and the present painting, dated 1812, is emblematic of the Italian views which made him so famous.  Bidauld exhibited regularly at the Salon in Paris from 1791 until his death, receiving a gold medal the same year the present picture was painted.  At the height of his career, Bidauld's patrons included Napoléon, Louis XVIII, and Charles IV of Spain.

Tivoli was a popular destination for artists traveling through Italy.  Bidauld's elegant composition from the bottom of the falls, looking up at the Ponte Rocco, exhibits his impressive sense of light. The bridge is seen in shadow, but the warm Italian sunlight hits the waterfall, trees, and hilltop village beyond, coming from the far left, toward the viewer.  The figures on the ledge below are also admiring the bridge, with their backs to the viewer; the sunlight illuminates them and a breeze comes off the falls, blowing the dress of the young woman.  An artist is seen sketching alongside his dog, perhaps an ode to Bidauld's days spent drawing en plein air.  A bright yet cool blue sky draws the viewer's eye to the top of the painting, where just a few whisps of clouds are seen at upper left. 

Some scholars have suggested that Bidauld took a second trip to Italy around 1810; if that is the case it is likely the present painting was related to that journey.  Stéphane Rouvet, who is currently preparing a catalogue raisonné on the artist in which this painting will be included, believes that if this second trip, still debated today, had taken place, it was probably thanks to the sponsorship of the collector Sommariva (1760-1826) who commissioned a number of views of Italy from Bidauld.

A larger version of the composition, dated 1811, was with James Mackinnon and exhibited at W. Mark Brady & Co. in New York in 1998.¹  Rouvet believes the present picture to be the more accomplished of the two versions.  We are grateful for his assistance with the cataloguing of this lot.

1. See Paintings and Sketches, 1780-1870, 6-21 May 1998, no. 5