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Lot Essay
Bidauld left the Provenal town of Carpentras for Paris in 1783. Two years later, he embarked on a five year sojourn in Italy, in keeping with other French landscape painters of his generation. There he executed numerous oil studies of the landscape around Rome, to which he referred throughout his career.
He entered the Salon for the first time in 1791 and participated regularly thereafter. He was the first painter to be elected to the Académie as a landscape painter in 1823, and in 1825 he was awarded the Legion d'Honneur.
This painting probably depicts the landscape of the Campagna and can be compared with the similar painting sold in these Rooms, 4 July 1997, lot 67 (£60,000), with its subtle, crystalline light and meticulous execution. Oil sketches such as these were often of small size and were rarely signed and dated as they were considered private working aids.
He entered the Salon for the first time in 1791 and participated regularly thereafter. He was the first painter to be elected to the Académie as a landscape painter in 1823, and in 1825 he was awarded the Legion d'Honneur.
This painting probably depicts the landscape of the Campagna and can be compared with the similar painting sold in these Rooms, 4 July 1997, lot 67 (£60,000), with its subtle, crystalline light and meticulous execution. Oil sketches such as these were often of small size and were rarely signed and dated as they were considered private working aids.