27/2/23 - Acquisition - Paris, Musée de la Vie romantique - After the numerous recent donations to the Musée d’Orsay (see the news item of news item of 3/6/21) and to the Petit Palais (see the news item of 11/8/21), Élisabeth and Jacques Foucart have once again shown their generosity, this time to the Musée de la Vie romantique, by offering it - still in memory of Bruno Foucart, and through the intermediary of the Société des Amis du musée - a painting by Édouard Odier representing a knight on the shore (ill. 1).
- 1. Édouard Odier (1800-1887)
A Knight by the Shore
Oil on canvas - 75 x 61 cm
Paris, Musée de la Vie Romantique
Photo: unidentified photographer - See the image in its page
Édouard Odier is a little known name, yet he is one of those forgotten "romantic" artists who deserve to be rediscovered. This rediscovery has, it is true, been initiated by the publication of his Mémoires, accompanied by the publication of some of his letters, published in 2006, but whose distribution is nonetheless confidential [1]. The subject had been identified by Bruno Foucart as Vasco Nuñez de Balboa touching the Pacific, in particular because of the banner he carries showing the lion of Castile, and his brother had taken it up again in the 1989 article, but he told us that he had been imprudent at the time and no longer recognised this theme, preferring to give it a purely descriptive title. Is this "knight by the shore" an illustration of a feat of arms from the past? A story that has yet to be found? For the time being, it is better to remain vague, while waiting to be able to link the work to another painting.
- 3. Édouard Odier (1800-1887)
Capture of the Fort of Montmélian. The magistrates Come to Present Henri IV the Keys of the City, Salon of 1838
Oil on canvas - 380 x 234 cm
Nérac, Château-musée Henri IV
Photo: Le Paragone (public domain) - See the image in its page
For, as we said, horses, and knights, are one of the artist’s favourite themes, and he often shows himself to be close to better-known painters such as Gros or even Géricault [2]. In any case, he shows a vigour that testifies to his qualities as a painter, although he tended to play them down. Thus we learn that in a letter to Léopold Robert, he calls his works "mes cochonneries"! This should rather be seen as false modesty, since they show qualities that were recognised: at the 1838 Salon he was awarded a first-class medal for a commission from the King’s Household, Capture of the Fort of Montmélian. The magistrates Come to Present Henri IV the Keys of the City (ill. 3), now kept in the Henri IV castle-museum in Nérac. The king rides a horse that is not nearly as spirited as the one shown in the painting.
- 4. Édouard Odier (1800-1887)
Portrait of a Horseman in Armor
Oil on canvas - 81 x 65 cm
Paris, Musée de la Vie Romantique
Photo: Paris Musées (public domain) - See the image in its page
This work is therefore perfect for the museum’s collections, and will join another painting by this little-known romantic, also a Cavalier en armure (ill. 4), whose exact subject is again not identified, and where exceptionally the animal is rather calm compared to Odier’s other horses often shown prancing or rearing.