Galerie Dreyfus
53
-
LE NAIN, ANTOINE (1593–1648), LOUIS (1603–1648) AND MATHIEU …
See original version (French)
53
-
LE NAIN, ANTOINE (1593–1648), LOUIS (1603–1648) AND MATHIEU …
See original version (French)
Estimate €70,000 - €88,000
Voluntary lot
Description
LE NAIN, ANTOINE (1593–1648),
LOUIS (1603–1648) AND MATHIEU (1607–1677)
A cart and figures at the entrance to a village
c. 1640–1660
Oil on canvas, signed
63 x 66 cm
Provenance
In the collection of P. de Boer, Amsterdam, in 1938;
Sale of the collection of Mr X and various collectors, Paris, Galerie Charpentier, 1 June 1951, lot 115
(attributed to Matthieu Le Nain);
Collection of Edouard des Courières (1896–1987);
Then passed down through the family.
Publications
Georges ISARLO, ‘Les trois Le Nain et leur suite’, in *La Renaissance*, March 1938, fig. 58.
This small group of figures in the foreground appears to be in the midst of negotiations. Two
men, of different social standing, are discussing matters under the watchful gaze of a woman and
a young girl standing beside them. Facing us, the man in the smart suit, adorned with lace,
has kept his hat on his head, whilst his interlocutor, of more modest origins, has
respectfully removed his. Seen from behind, he takes a step back and appears to recoil at the finger
pointed at him. Standing slightly behind her husband, the richly dressed woman
watches without intervening. Could this be a discussion about a payment to be made
regarding the cart parked on the right? In the background, a man turns away with his head bowed,
as if cast aside. From the whip he holds in his hand, one can make out the horse’s harness. Attentive
to the small details of daily life, sensitive to the behaviour of their contemporaries, the Le Nain brothers
know how to portray the society around them with restraint and to imbue it with an
allegorical, even biblical, significance. One finds oneself searching for some hidden parable in
their focused scenes of everyday life.
Antoine, Louis and Mathieu Le Nain were three 17th-century French painter brothers renowned for their
so-called ‘realist’ genre paintings. Raised in a rural environment to which they would always remain
attached, they painted their contemporaries with great insight, having likely been trained by
Flemish painters (the Teniers?) from whom they acquired the skill to render scenes of everyday life.
Antoine Le Nain (1588?–1648) was the eldest of the brothers; he painted throughout his career alongside Louis and
Mathieu. In 1629, the three brothers opened a Parisian studio and enjoyed public acclaim
thanks to the genre scenes in which they specialised. Close to the court and the
wealthy, all three were admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1648, but Antoine
and Louis died that same year. Mathieu went on to pursue a successful career as a portrait painter,
painting Mazarin and Queen Anne of Austria. Whilst genre painting was then in vogue
across Europe, the Le Nain brothers’ style differed from the prevailing Caravaggist movement through the simplicity of
their compositions and a restrained colour palette, favouring shades of grey and brown as
in this work, characterised by its understated quality. They sought to capture the intimate warmth of a hearth
or social interactions, prioritising facial expression over the proportions of the figures.
A painting centred on introspection, a rarity in this Baroque century characterised by ostentation.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
You may also like