| JEAN-LOUIS-ERNEST MEISSONIER (Lyons 1815 - Paris 1891) THE QUARREL Pen and black ink, over traces in black chalk, signed with the monogram; 191 x 253 mm. The sketch is a 'ricordo' of Meissonier's most celebrated painting (1855), presented by Napoleon III to the English Court. Meissonier was born at Lyons but was taken to Paris at an early age. A family friend introduced him to the much frequented studio of Leon Cogniet, where he began his professional career. In the forties and fifties Meissonier often exhibited his paintings in the Salons but also worked hard, for living, at illustrations for different publishers. The paintings of his first period were mainly picturesque, small genre subjects in costumes of the past In 1855 Meissonier touched the highest mark of his achievement with 'The Gamblers' and 'The Quarrel', which was presented by Napoleon III to the English Court. His triumph was sustained at the Salon of 1857, when he exhibited nine pictures, and drawings. In 1859 Meissonier was commissioned to paint the "Battle of Solferino" (now in the Louvre). This was the beginning of a new series of works, which date from the Second Empire, and in which the artist celebrated the glories of the first Empire. Renouncing his small interiors and subjects of fantasy he attempted historical and open air subjects, movements of crowds and armies, and set himself the task of painting the great scenes of the imperial 'épopée'. He became enormously popular. Meissonier worked with elaborate care and a scrupulous observation of nature, often preparing his pictures with studies and sketches. He was an accomplished draughtsman and also practised etching and lithography. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|