Watercolor on paper heightened with gouache, signed and dated lower right: Eug. Lami 1842.
H. 15.7 x L. 23 cm.
This watercolor represents the Duke of Orleans in the uniform of a lieutenant-general wearing the Order of the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, at the head of his staff probably during the Algerian Campaign, haloed by his two years of military campaigns of 1835 and 1836. It was produced in five copies after the sudden death of the Duke of Orleans, from a fall from his horse, by his close friend Eugène Lami.
Very close to the House of Orleans, Lami became in 1831 the drawing teacher of the young Duke of Nemours before becoming one of the official painters of the July Monarchy. After the fall of Louis-Philippe, he followed the Orleans family into exile in England, which further strengthened his attachment to the Princes of this dynasty.
- Collection of the Orleans family.
- Collection of Françoise d´Orléans, Duchess of Chartres (1844-1925).
- Sale A collection for history. Important paintings, drawings, furniture and historical memorabilia belonging to the Family of France, Sotheby's Paris, September 29-30, 2015, lot 178.
Eugène Lami: painter and decorator of the Orléans family, Domaine de Chantilly, Musée Condé, 23 February-19 May 2019, ed. Faton, cat. 14 p. 55 (illustrated).
Literature
- Lemoisne Paul-André, Eugène Lami 1800-1890, 1912, ed. Goupil et Cie, p. 69.
- Lemoisne Paul-André, The work of Eugène Lami (1800-1890). Lithographs, drawings, watercolors, paintings: essay from a catalog raisonné, 1914, n° 1106 (as from the Duchesse de Chartres collection).
Related works
- A very close drawing by Lami with the vertical whip was sold by Maîtres Ader-Buzot-Cailac, Hôtel Drouot, March 13, 1959.
- A variant of our watercolor by Falinski that belonged to the Duke of Nemours, was sold at Millon, June 25, 2019, lot 156.
We would like to thank Madame Caroline Imbert for having confirmed via Sotheby's the authenticity of this work, which will appear in the artist's catalog raisonné in preparation.
