JEAN BARBAULT (VIARMES 1718-1762 ROME) - photo 1
JEAN BARBAULT (VIARMES 1718-1762 ROME) - photo 2
JEAN BARBAULT (VIARMES 1718-1762 ROME) - photo 3
JEAN BARBAULT (VIARMES 1718-1762 ROME) - photo 4

JEAN BARBAULT (VIARMES 1718-1762 ROME)

Lot 25
11.06.2025 00:00UTC +01:00
Classic
Sold
€ 18 900
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1437161
Lot 25 | JEAN BARBAULT (VIARMES 1718-1762 ROME)
Estimate value
€ 15 000 – 20 000
JEAN BARBAULT (VIARMES 1718-1762 ROME)
La Frascatane
huile sur toile
25 x 18 cm (9 7/8 x 7 in.)




Provenance

[Très probablement] Chez Galerie Matthiesen, Londres, en 1955 (selon D. Jacquot et al., 2010, voir infra).
L. Rocchetti, Rome, depuis au moins 1959 et jusqu'au moins 1975 (selon les catalogues d'exposition de 1959 et de 1974-1975, voir infra).
Collection particulière, Italie.



Literature

P. Rosenberg, 'Jean Barbault', Arte Illustrata, novembre 1972, 5e année, 51, p. 448 et p. 453, sous la note 22, reproduit en noir et blanc p. 430, fig. 38.
D. Jacquot et al., Jean Barbault (1718-1762). Le théâtre de la vie italienne, [cat. exp.], Strasbourg, 2010, p. 89, cat. 20, reproduit en noir et blanc.



Exhibited

Rome, Palazzo delle esposizioni, Il Settecento a Roma, 19 mars-31 mai 1959, n°22.
Beauvais, musée départemental de l’Oise ; Angers, musée des beaux-arts ; Valence, musée des beaux arts, Jean Barbault, 1718-1762, 3 octobre-15 novembre 1974 ; 1er décembre 1974-15 janvier 1975 ; 1er février-15 mars 1975, n°22.



Further details

JEAN BARBAULT (1718-1762), LA FRASCATANE, OIL ON CANVAS

Jean Barbault (1718-1762), a painter who was 'delicious and delectable, not without a touch of humour... an outstanding colourist', as Pierre Rosenberg describes him (Le siècle de Louis XV, peinture française de 1710 à 1774, Ottawa, 1976, pp. 28-29), remained in obscurity for a long time before being brought out of the shadows in 1974 with the first monographic exhibition devoted to his work.

Barbault's life was one of ups and downs: he began as a student of the austere Jean Restout (1692-1768) in Paris, but thanks to the esteem in which its director, Jean-François de Troy (1679-1752), held him, he was able to enter the Académie de Saint-Luc in Rome without passing the competitive examination. However, Barbault did not seem to benefit from the artistic abundance offered by the Eternal City. He ran up debts, married in secret and tried to swindle the Academy administration. Nevertheless, the painter was a great success with the foreign aristocrats and patricians who travelled to Italy at the time. Among his patrons were Prince and Princess Paul-Antoine Esterhazy (1711-1762), Joseph Roch Boyer de Fonscolombe (1721-1799) and Jean de Julienne (1686-1766), a great collector of paintings by Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721).

In 1751, Barbault received a commission from Abel-François Poisson (1727-1781), Marquis de Vandières, better known by his later titles of Marquis de Marigny et de Ménars, younger brother of Madame de Pompadour (1721-1764) and Director of the King's Buildings, who asked him for twelve paintings depicting the costumes of Italy. A letter from Jean-François de Troy to the Marquis, dated 10 November 1751, states that Barbault had completed 'six of the twelve paintings you ordered ...These six paintings are: The Swiss of the Pope's Guard; The Pope's Coachman; The Hunter; The Frascatane; The Endowed Daughter; The Venetian ...' (see D. Jacquot, 2010, op. cit., p. 83.)

These paintings later passed into the collection of the Marquis's travelling companion, the architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot (1713-1780). In the catalogue of Soufflot's posthumous sale, it is noted that certain paintings not signed by Barbault were attributed to Pierre Subleyras (1699-1749). It is true that the rich subject matter and sumptuous colours, so beautifully displayed in La Frascatane, are close to the style of the Occitan painter, but the present composition, with its golden accents, could not be attributed to anyone other than Barbault.

The series of costumes from Italy became very popular, and Barbault took advantage of this, executing serveral versions of each composition. Each time, the artist changed small details by adding a landscape element, reversing the model's pose or changing the colours of the costume. For example, the horse and man in the bottom left-hand corner of our Frascatane are not included in the other known versions of the painting.

The pretty peasant woman in the composition comes from Frascati, a town in the Alban Hills near Rome. From the early sixteenth century onwards, leading Roman families began to build their country houses there. Embellished and enriched by successive generations, these houses became veritable castles. Thanks to the magnificence of St Peter's Cathedral, and renowned for its white wine, Frascati was also an obligatory stop on the route of the Grand Tour, which explains why Barbault chose to include a frascatane in his selection of typical costumes for patrons desirous of a souvenir of their Italian trip.
Artist:Jean Barbault (1718 - 1762)
Applied technique:Oil on canvas
Art style:Old Masters
Genre:Genre art
Place of origin:Western Europe, France, Europe
Auction house category:Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings, Paintings
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
11.06.2025 – 11.06.2025
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

More from Creator

ATTRIBUÉ À JEAN BARBAULT (1718-1762)
ATTRIBUÉ À JEAN BARBAULT (1718-1762)
€2 000

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.
×
Save this search query and get timely email alerts! It is simple and very effective.
françois morellet (1926 - 2016)
Create a Search Subscription