Parisian auctions: Artcurial

24/11/24 - Paris - Art Market - The French 17th-century is in the spotlight at Artcurial, whose next sale of early paintings takes place on 26 November in Paris. Jacques Stella, Pierre Mignard, the Le Nain brothers, Sébastien Bourdon, Nicolas Loir, Charles de La Fosse... the list of names goes on from room to room.

1. Jacques Stella (1596-1657)
The Embalming of Christ, c. 1655-1657
Oil on canvas - 45.5 x 34.5 cm
Sale Artcurial Paris 26 November
Photo: Artcurial

See the image in its page

Jacques Stella’s The Embalming of Christ (ill. 1) can be compared with a painting by the artist on the same subject acquired in 2005 by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (see the news item of 12/5/05: although their dimensions and format are different, their compositions are more or less the same. But this painting is best compared with the series on the Passion that Stella painted at the very end of his life, ‘the last work he completed’ according to Félibien. From The Entry into Jerusalem to The Ascension, he unfolded Christ’s last days on earth in thirty paintings, of which this was probably one. The whole picture has been reconstructed by Sylvain Kerspern on the basis of Claudine’s engravings and the few drawings now preserved; the historian has also included The Embalming of Christ in Stella’s catalogue raisonné available online. The painter was the subject of an exhibition in Lyon in 2007 (see articles by Didier Rykner and Sylvain Kerspern).

2. Nicolas Loir (1624-1679)
The Judgement of Solomon
Oil on canvas - 90 x 130 cm
Sale Artcurial Paris 26 November
Photo: Artcurial

See the image in its page

By Nicolas Loir, The Judgement of Solomon (ill. 2) shows the artist’s talent as a colourist, with his choice of bold, luminous contrasts of colour. It interprets a subject treated by Nicolas Poussin in 1649, whom he met in Rome during his stay there between 1647 and 1649 in the company of Félibien.

3. Sébastien Bourdon…