Lot n° 18
Estimation :
1500 - 2000
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 2 560EUR
Jean-Baptiste WEYLER (Strasbourg, 1747 -... - Lot 18 - Ader
Jean-Baptiste WEYLER (Strasbourg, 1747 - Paris, 1791)
Philippe de Champaigne (1602-1674)
Miniature in painted enamel on copper plate
On the back, on an old label "Philippe de Champaigne / [e]mail de Weyler prêté / par Mr Muller- Coulaux / au Mullerhof, Alsace" : a second old label : "M Paul Muller-Simonis
Dim : 12,9 x 11,4 cm ; in an oval gilded wooden frame titled " PHILIPPE DE CHAMPEIGNE ".
Provenance:
- Louise Weyler, née Bourdon (1789-1910), second wife of the artist.
- Jean-Pierre Mayno, tobacco merchant and collector of paintings. By succession to Messrs Barrois and Arrois.
- Paul Muller-Simonis (1862-1930) in 1908.
- Pierre Muller-Coulaux (1874-1943).
Exhibition:
Paris, Salon of 1787, n° 78.
Bibliography:
- André Girodie, "Jean-Baptiste Weyler," in Revue alsacienne illustrée, Strasbourg, 1908, pp. 65-73 reproduced,
- Neil Jeffares, Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800, only edition, updated 17 August 2020 (online).
Reference work:
Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne, Philippe de Champaigne (1602-1674), oil on canvas, size 120 x 91 cm, Paris, Musée du Louvre, inv. INV114.
Born in Strasbourg, Jean-Baptiste Weyler was first a student of the Alsatian painter Haldenwanger before joining the studio of Joseph-Marie Vien (1716-1809) when he moved to Paris in 1763. He was then a student of Jean-Siméon Chardin (1699-1779) before being accepted as a miniaturist in 1775. He was admitted to the Academy in 1779 thanks to the intervention of the Count d'Angiviller, and is known to have painted a large number of portraits in pastel at the Salons from 1775 to 1791.
It would seem that this pastel technique was used to make preparatory studies for his enamels for which he was very famous. He used this technique of fire arts which lasted throughout the 18th century in his home town from 1776. The Almanach historique et raisonné des architectes, peintres, sculpteurs mentions: "Weiler, painter in miniature and enamel...". At this time, he received advice from his wife's brother, the chemist Cadet de Vaux, to improve his technique. He excelled in the art of portraiture for which he painted from life, or from copies of famous works. In the booklet of the Salon of 1789, we learn that "M. Veyler has the project to paint them in enamel and he invites the public to entrust him with the originals...".
Without a doubt, this delicate enamel portrait of the famous painter Philippe de Champaigne presented at the Salon of 1787 is a precursor to his vast project of iconographic pantheon of "Great Men". Jean-Baptiste Weyler has remarkably reproduced Philippe de Champaigne's lost self-portrait. This painting was disseminated by an engraving by Edelinck commissioned by the artist's nephew, who also made a replica on canvas, which was still considered to be the original until the mid-19th century. It is undoubtedly this work that served as a model for Jean-Baptiste Weyler, since it had belonged to the collection of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture since its donation by the engraver Gilles Rousselet in 1682. When Jean-Baptiste Weyler died, his wife Louise Bourdon continued his work. It is possible that she collaborated in the finishing of this miniature.
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