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Lot Essay
Hubert Robert began exploring the theme of the long colonnaded antique gallery in 1759-1760, while he was still in Rome. On his return to France, this architectural model inspired him to paint numerous views of the Grande Galérie of the Louvre in ruins, animated by figures, antique statues and crumbling blocks of stone, as in this drawing. The partially collapsed coffered barrel vault lets the light in at an angle, while the colonnade opens up against the light in the background.
Another very similar watercolor, dated 1780, is at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille (inv. Pl. 1470; see S. Raux, Catalogue des dessins français du XVIIIe siècle de Claude Gillot à Hubert Robert, Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, Paris, 1995, no. 69, ill.). This large composition was preceded by a red chalk drawing dated 1779 in a private collection (Raux, op. cit., p. 180), as well as a study in black chalk of unknown location (ibid., p. 181, fig. 69B). Three other watercolors of a similar subject, although not specifically based on the Grande Galérie du Louvre, are known in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. 59.23.68; see J. Bean, 15th-18th Century French Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1986, no. 267, ill.); the Kunsthalle Karlsruhe (inv. 1979-16; see S.D. Träumen, Französische Zeichnungen aus der Staatlichen Kunsthalle, Berlin, 2018, p. 104, ill.); and one in a private collection, with a sculpture similar to the one in the present drawing (V. Carlson, Hubert Robert, Drawings & Watercolours, exhib. cat., Washington, National Gallery of Art, 1978, no. 49, ill.).
The present watercolor can be considered one of the most important explorations of the theme in Robert’ œuvre, which would culminate more than a decade later in a painting on the same theme exhibited at the Salon of 1796 in the Louvre (inv. R.F. 1975-11; see Hubert Robert (1733-1808). Un Peintre visionnaire, exhib. cat., Paris, Musée du Louvre, 2016, no. 144, ill.). Robert played an active part in the transformation of the old Louvre in the years 1780-1800 as a member of the commission in charge of the building’s conversion, contributing in particular his innovative ideas about lighting, as this watercolor so well demonstrates. The work was sold during Hubert Robert's lifetime to François-Nicolas Trou, an architect whom the artist probably met through his work at the Louvre.
Another very similar watercolor, dated 1780, is at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille (inv. Pl. 1470; see S. Raux, Catalogue des dessins français du XVIIIe siècle de Claude Gillot à Hubert Robert, Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, Paris, 1995, no. 69, ill.). This large composition was preceded by a red chalk drawing dated 1779 in a private collection (Raux, op. cit., p. 180), as well as a study in black chalk of unknown location (ibid., p. 181, fig. 69B). Three other watercolors of a similar subject, although not specifically based on the Grande Galérie du Louvre, are known in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. 59.23.68; see J. Bean, 15th-18th Century French Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1986, no. 267, ill.); the Kunsthalle Karlsruhe (inv. 1979-16; see S.D. Träumen, Französische Zeichnungen aus der Staatlichen Kunsthalle, Berlin, 2018, p. 104, ill.); and one in a private collection, with a sculpture similar to the one in the present drawing (V. Carlson, Hubert Robert, Drawings & Watercolours, exhib. cat., Washington, National Gallery of Art, 1978, no. 49, ill.).
The present watercolor can be considered one of the most important explorations of the theme in Robert’ œuvre, which would culminate more than a decade later in a painting on the same theme exhibited at the Salon of 1796 in the Louvre (inv. R.F. 1975-11; see Hubert Robert (1733-1808). Un Peintre visionnaire, exhib. cat., Paris, Musée du Louvre, 2016, no. 144, ill.). Robert played an active part in the transformation of the old Louvre in the years 1780-1800 as a member of the commission in charge of the building’s conversion, contributing in particular his innovative ideas about lighting, as this watercolor so well demonstrates. The work was sold during Hubert Robert's lifetime to François-Nicolas Trou, an architect whom the artist probably met through his work at the Louvre.