François GERARD, known as Baron GERARD (Rome, 1770 - Paris, - Lot 103

François GERARD, known as Baron GERARD (Rome, 1770 - Paris, 1837) Portrait of the goldsmith Henri Auguste (1759-1816) and his family TOILE 184 x 132 cm (old restorations and accident) Original carved and gilded wood frame from the Empire period Provenance: Marie Cecile Coustou (1825-1906) great-granddaughter of Charles Pierre Coustou married Gustave Brochant de Villiers (1811-1864), then by descent. Exhibition: Salon de 1798, n°192, Portrait du C[itoyen] *** et de sa famille Bibliography: GERARD, Henri, Oeuvre du Baron Gérard, Paris, Firmin-Didot, 1857, p. 9 and p. 17. SALMON, Xavier, François Gérard, portraitiste : peintre des rois, roi des peintres, Paris, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 2014, p. 15-16 and p. 50-51. Related works: Reduction at the Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon (INV 4816) Pierre Adam d'après François Gérard, l'Orfèvre Henri Auguste et sa famille, burin,1852. Engraved to illustrate Baron Gérard's work published by Henri Gérard (Paris, Firmin-Didot, 1857). "Look at this family gathered by the light of a lamp. The mother is teaching her two sons. The father approaches and leans over the table. The apartment windows are open. The light of the moon contrasts with that of the lamp, which, equipped with its safety guard, only directly illuminates the objects on the table and some of the figures. Its golden light is perhaps too golden for a quinquet, reflecting off the other objects and mingling its gold with the silver rays of the moon. Caravaggio would have chosen this double lighting effect and treated it no better. Rembrandt would surely have made it darker." (Mercure français, October 1, 1798). Son of Robert Joseph Auguste, Henri Auguste became, like his father whose workshop he took over around 1784, one of the greatest silversmiths of his time. His prestigious lineage and the quality of his productions enabled him to create a complete new service for Louis XVI in 1786, and a vast silver service and crown for Napoleon on the occasion of his coronation in 1804, just as his father had done for Louis XVI. His work, marked by the promotion of the neo-classical and Empire styles and his collaboration with sculptor Jean Guillaume Moitte, was a fertile contribution to the history of goldsmithing. His contribution was rewarded with a gold medal at the 3rd Industrial Exhibition in 1802. The end of his artistic career did not reflect the success he had enjoyed throughout his life: declared fraudulently bankrupt, Auguste fled to England, without bothering to settle his current affairs, before ending his life in Jamaica. This tumultuous life, shared with Madeleine Julie Auguste (1765-1795), née Coustou, also from a prestigious dynasty of artists, saw the birth of two children: Charles Louis Auguste (1785-1822) and Jules Robert Auguste (1789-1850). His father's debacle did not prevent the latter, portrayed at an early age by François-André Vincent, from enjoying a successful career as a sculptor and painter. Although the mix of Louis XVI and Empire-style decorative repertoire recalls the dual allegiance of the Coustou and Auguste families to their two greatest patrons, Louis XVI and Napoleon, our painting refers more to their family than their professional fortunes. Paradoxically, there is no direct reference to Henri Auguste's work as a goldsmith; only the drawing board and pencil holder in the lower left allude to his status as an artist. Our composition is more akin to an intimate painting: the muted light of the quinquet, the fading daylight, the tight framing around the protagonists and the location in the garden of their house in Haÿ-lès-Roses all lend a very personal dimension to our painting. Likewise, the fact that Madame Auguste is depicted three years after her death perhaps lends our painting the status of an in memoriam portrait. It was not until the turmoil of the Revolution had passed that François Gérard reached the peak of his career in the late 1790s. First crowned with success at the Salon of 1795 with his Bélisaire, he was crowned a second time, at the Salon of 1798, with his Psyché et l'Amour, presented at the same time as our composition. Although he had not built his reputation at the salons with portraits, it was in this genre that he would later make his name: under the Empire and Restoration, he was one of the most fashionable portraitists among members of good society. Expert | Stéphane Pinta - Cabinet Turquin et associés