painting of a group of people standing around a horse drawn carriagean image of a picture frame with a picture hanging on the wall
Hermitage Fine Art

99 - [COLLECTION OF EMPEROR NICHOLAS I] ADOLPHE IGNATIEVICH LADUR…
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Estimate €100,000 - €120,000
Description
[COLLECTION OF EMPEROR NICHOLAS I] ADOLPHE IGNATIEVICH LADURNER (1798–1855) The Life Guards Uhlan Regiment of His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich in camp at Krasnoye Selo signed and dated ‘Ad. Ladurner 1843’ (bottom left); inventory number ‘148.’ (bottom right) oil on canvas 69 × 97.5 cm Painted in 1843 PROVENANCE: Collection of Emperor Nicholas I, Aleksandrovsky Palace, Tsarskoye Selo. Sotheby’s London, The Russian Sale, 14 December 1995, lot 135 Sotheby’s London, 28 May 2012, lot 4 Private collection LITERATURE: Podstanitsky, S. A., Leonov, O. G. and Popov, S. A., The Russian Guard in the Paintings of Adolf Ladurner. Moscow: Russkie Vityazi Publishing House, 2017, pp. 100–103, ill. Adolphe Ladurner was a painter of French origin who specialised in military and historical scenes. A pupil of Horace Vernet, he exhibited at the Paris Salon before settling in St Petersburg in 1830, where he enjoyed the patronage of Emperor Nicholas I and made a name for himself through his depictions of military parades, manoeuvres, camp scenes and Russian army uniforms. In 1836, he was appointed a member of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, and became a professor there in 1840. His works are held in several Russian imperial collections, notably at the Russian Museum in St Petersburg. Formed in 1817 for the Guard detachment in Warsaw, the Tsarevich’s (Konstantin Pavlovich) Guard Uhlan Regiment came under the patronage of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich following Konstantin’s death in 1831. In 1849, on the death of Mikhail Pavlovich, the regiment’s commander became the heir, Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich. Following his accession to the throne in 1855, the regiment took the name His Majesty’s Guard Uhlan Regiment, which it retained until 1917. The painting depicts ‘Warsaw’ Uhlans of the Guard, quartered in a peasant’s courtyard (during the Krasnoje Selo manoeuvres, the cavalry, unlike the infantry, generally lodged not in tents but in village courtyards). With the exception of one uhlan in a cape (on the left, near the well) and one soldier in ‘indoor’ uniform (near the gate), all the others are in parade uniform and appear to be preparing to fall into line: the junior officer standing on the steps (he has swapped his parade shapka for a cap), two non-commissioned officers (one, on the right, is leading a horse out from under the awning; the other is standing in front of the steps), the squadron bugler (who is talking to an old man and some children) and rank-and-file soldiers. On the chest of the non-commissioned officer in the foreground are the Military Order and the Virtuti Militari Cross, 5th class, awarded for the Polish campaign of 1830–1831; the same cross is visible on the trumpeter’s chest. The regiment traditionally rode bay-coloured horses. At the buyer’s request, we shall be happy to provide a general report on the condition of the lot described above. However, as we are not professional conservators or restorers, we strongly advise potential buyers to carry out their own inspection or to consult a specialist of their choice to obtain a full assessment of the lot’s condition. Descriptions of items provided in the catalogue or by correspondence are for information purposes only and should not be regarded as a definitive assessment. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSION REGARDING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD ‘AS IS’, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE PUBLISHED IN THE CATALOGUE.
See original version (French)
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