Lot 51

SAMUEL HIERONYMUS GRIMM (1733-1794) (Lots 51-55) Born near Bern, Switzerland, the nephew of a painter of miniatures and watercolours, Grimm relocated to Paris in 1765 where he joined the circle of J. G. Wille, a leading engraver, and in 1766, in the company of Philipp Hackert and Nicolas Pérignon, took a walking tour to sketch in Normandy, recording the landscape in watercolour, for by this date Grimm had ceased to work in oils. However France was only a staging post, in February 1768 he left Paris for London where he remained for the rest of his life, exhibiting regularly at the Royal Academy and the Society of Artists, developing a reputation for his excellent architectural and landscape watercolours, which provided detailed and characterful insights into the topography and character of contemporary life. Trained by a Swiss miniaturist and drawing directly from nature, Grimm worked best in a free, exact, but lively style with careful detailing. Like his near-contemporary Paul Sandby, Grimm is admired for his ability to draw figures as well as he could draw landscape.

Samuel Hieronymous Grimm (Bern, Switzerland 1733-1794 London)

In the garden at Montmorency, France

Details

Samuel Hieronymous Grimm (Bern, Switzerland 1733-1794 London)
In the garden at Montmorency, France
inscribed 'à Montmorenci' (lower right) and numbered '55' (lower right)
pencil, pen and black ink and watercolour on paper, partial watermark
9 3/8 x 7¼ in. (23.8 x 18.4 cm.)

Exhibited

London, W/S Fine Art, Summer 2011, no. 4.

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Lot Essay

The present drawing is a sheet from the album (lot 55). It is believed to be an illustration of a view in the garden of a villa built by the artist Charles Le Brun in 1670 and expanded to include an orangery in 1702 by the banker Pierre Crozat (almost entirely destroyed in 1815).

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