LOUIS GAUFFIER (POITIERS 1762-1801 LIVOURNE) - photo 1
LOUIS GAUFFIER (POITIERS 1762-1801 LIVOURNE) - photo 2
LOUIS GAUFFIER (POITIERS 1762-1801 LIVOURNE) - photo 3

LOUIS GAUFFIER (POITIERS 1762-1801 LIVOURNE)

Lot 36
15.06.2023 15:00UTC +01:00
Classic
Sold
€ 56 700
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationFrance, Paris
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Archive
ID 974639
Lot 36 | LOUIS GAUFFIER (POITIERS 1762-1801 LIVOURNE)
Estimate value
€ 50 000 – 70 000
LOUIS GAUFFIER (POITIERS 1762-1801 LIVOURNE)

Portrait en pied du commissaire ordonnateur de division Étienne Michaux avec la ville de Florence en arrière-plan, anciennement dit du général Jean-Claude Moreau

signé, localisé et daté 'L. Gauffier. Flor. / an 9.e' (en bas, à gauche)

huile sur toile

64 x 46 cm. (25 1/8 x 18 1/8 in.)





Provenance

Vente anonyme, Christie's, Londres, 13 décembre 1996, lot 62.



Literature

D. Gorchkoff, 'Le diable est dans les détails. L’uniforme des commissaires des guerres du Consulat à l’exemple du portrait d’Étienne Michaux', Napoleonica. La Revue. Revue internationale d’histoire des deux Empires napoléoniens, 2019/1, 33, pp. 2-24, reproduit en couleurs p. 3.

M. Hilaire, P. Stépanoff, Le voyage en Italie de Louis Gauffier, [cat. exp.], Montpellier, musée Fabre, 2022, p. 348 et p. 387, reproduit en couleurs p. 348, fig. 1.

A. O. Cavina, E. Calbi, Louis Gauffier. Un pittore francese in Italia, Milan, 2022, p. 116, p. 123 et p. 234, n°R34, reproduit en couleurs p. 118, fig. 6 et p. 234.



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Post lot text

LOUIS GAUFFIER, FULL-LENGTH PORTRAIT OF ÉTIENNE MICHAUX, WITH THE CITY OF FLORENCE IN THE BACKGROUND, SIGNED, INSCRIBED AND DATED, OIL ON CANVAS

Previously mistakenly considered to be the portrait of General Jean-Claude Moreau (1755-1828), a detailed study of the costume worn by the model reveals that this self-assured officer can be none other than the divisional commissar Étienne Michaux (1771-1850) (see D. Gorchkoff, 2019, op. cit. supra). Another version of the portrait sold in 1946 in Stockholm identifies the sitter as General Claude-Ignace-Francois Michaud (1751-1833), a mistake probably due to the homonymy of the surnames. As Michaux was on the army staff under Murat (1767-1815), between An VIII and An X (1801-1802), it is possible that the young officer also followed Murat during his campaign in Egypt in 1799. He was appointed chief commissaire of the army in 1803 and then knight of the Legion of Honour the following year. However, after Napoleon's downfall he fell into disgrace and died destitute in exile.

In the present painting, Michaux’s unfortunate end is far from being suspected: Gauffier (1762-1801) presents the soldier in all his glory on the terrace of a garden in the south-east of Florence – the dome of the cathedral can be seen rising in front of the Apennines in the background. Italy played an important role in the life of the artist, who moved to the Eternal City in 1784 after winning the Prix de Rome. His stay in the Italian capital ended in 1793, when he was driven out of the city by anti-French insurrections. He then moved to Florence, where he began to paint portraits; as in the case of the present work, the painter's patrons came largely from French and English military circles.

Dated "an 9e." (1801), this elegant portrait of Etienne Michaux is among the very last works of the artist, who died in October of the same year. A small copy of the present portrait is to be found in the painting of eleven portrait reductions, now in the Musée Fabre (Montpellier, inv. no. 876.3.34), probably sketched by Gauffier as a précis of his work in Florence.
Artist:Louis Gauffier (1762 - 1801)
Applied technique:Oil on canvas
Art style:Old Masters
Genre:Portrait
Place of origin:Western Europe, France, Europe
Auction house category:Paintings
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