.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
A study for La Pche, one of six overdoors for the small dining room in the apartments of King Louis XV in the Chteau de Fontainebleau, F. Boyer, Catalogue Raisonn de L'Oeuvre de Charles Natoire, Paris, 1949, p. 70. The six panels were commissioned to Natoire in 1737 by Philibert Orry (1689-1747) and were exhibited at the Acadmie that same year. These six paintings were Orry's first commission after having been named Directeur Gnral des Btiments du Roi following the death of the Duc d'Antin in 1737.
The pendant for La Pche, Une Fontaine o plusieurs Personnes viennent se reposer was sold at Christie's Monaco, 4 December 1992, lot 49. The subjects of the other four panels, which were designed for the large dining rooms and the Cabinet du Roi were of the Chasseurs qui se reposent, Chasseurs qui vont entrer dans la ferme, Un Port de mer and Colin-Maillard.
La Pche, now in a private collection, was described by the Acadmie as 'Une companie, dans un bateau, vient voir tirer les filet', which corresponds to that of the present drawing. The shape in which the drawing is inscribed is also similar to that of the pictures described as chantourn.
In the present sheet, Natoire's ability to organize his composition within the constricted form of the Boiserie imposed by the architect is evident. For Natoire, trained as a history painter, seeing the Grande manire reduced to the status of a mere decoration, was a source of grief. The transformation of the history painter into a decorator was to increase with time, despite the efforts of the King and the successive Directeurs des Btiments.
The pendant for La Pche, Une Fontaine o plusieurs Personnes viennent se reposer was sold at Christie's Monaco, 4 December 1992, lot 49. The subjects of the other four panels, which were designed for the large dining rooms and the Cabinet du Roi were of the Chasseurs qui se reposent, Chasseurs qui vont entrer dans la ferme, Un Port de mer and Colin-Maillard.
La Pche, now in a private collection, was described by the Acadmie as 'Une companie, dans un bateau, vient voir tirer les filet', which corresponds to that of the present drawing. The shape in which the drawing is inscribed is also similar to that of the pictures described as chantourn.
In the present sheet, Natoire's ability to organize his composition within the constricted form of the Boiserie imposed by the architect is evident. For Natoire, trained as a history painter, seeing the Grande manire reduced to the status of a mere decoration, was a source of grief. The transformation of the history painter into a decorator was to increase with time, despite the efforts of the King and the successive Directeurs des Btiments.