Louis-Auguste Brun, called Brun de Versoix

Lausanne, Château des Prangins, Swiss National Museum, Louis-Auguste Brun, Peintre de Marie-Antoinette, 4 March - 10 July 2016, cat. no. 48. 

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 on copper is in lovely condition. The copper is flat and very healthy. The corners seem to be unbroken. There are tiny dots of retouching in the center of the sky and the mountains beyond. There are also a few spots around the extreme edges and in front of the chateau on the left. All of the details and elements seem to be well preserved. The varnish is slightly dull, but 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."

The Swiss painter Louis-Auguste Brun first trained in Geneva and then traveled through Italy before arriving in Paris in 1783.  He was well-known for his Rococo-style hunting scenes, which became quite popular with the French aristocracy.  Indeed, his most famous work is a large hunting portrait of Marie Antoinette on horseback.¹  Brun fled France during the Revolution and became the burgomaster of Versoix in 1801, earning his sobriquet "Brun de Versoix."  The present work was likely painted in the 1790s, once Brun had returned to Switzerland.  Though a fantastical landscape, the building to the left is reminiscent of the Erlacherhof in Bern. 

1. Oil on canvas, 60 by 66 cm., Château de Versailles, inv. no. MV5718; see C. Constans, Musée National du Château de Versailles: Les Peintures, vol. I, p. 130, cat. 726.