Lot 19
PHILIPPE DE CHAMPAIGNE (ATTRIBUTION)
(1602 - 1674) Brabançon-born French Baroque era painter, a major exponent of the French school. He was a founding member of the Académie de peinture et de sculpture. Original oil on canvas 33 1/4" x 41 1/2" oil on canvas, "Saint Bruno" which very closely replicates an oil by Champaigne held by The National Swedish Art Museum in Stockholm. Champaigne was close to the Roman Catholic Carthusian Order, also known as the Order of St. Bruno, and replicas and engravings of his St. Brunos were widely admired. Prior to 1976, New York collector David Wapinsky purchased this oil at auction in New York (we believe Sotheby's), Lot 260: "ATTRIBUTED TO E. LE SUEUR, SAINT WITH BIBLE, unframed, 41 1/2" x 33 1/4". From June through August, 1976, Wapinsky corresponded with BERNARD DORIVAL (1914-2003), French art expert and critic who edited the catalog raisonné of Philippe de Champaigne and served as assistant curator of the French National Museum of Modern Art. Wapinsky sent Dorival photographs of the oil, which Dorival examined. On June 3, 1976 Dorival wrote Wapinsky noting that he is correcting proofs of his catalog raisonee of Champaigne and opines that the lines in this oil appear: "harder and heavier than the master's...in the authentic paintings, they do it with softness and with a flowing brush stroke..." and expresses his initial opinion that the painting is "a good old replica". However, Dorival mentions two Champaigne "St. Brunos" which had previously appeared at auction, and speculates that Wapinsky's might be an unknown third. On August 8th, Dorival comments on a known engraving by Nicolas Bazin which exactly replicates Wapinsky's oil. He comments: "...It is true that your painting corresponds to a gravure from Philippe de Champaigne. It is very possible it [the painting] comes from a collection of Cardinal Fesch...or from the collection of the Marques of Montcalm Montpellier...". On Aug. 28, Dorival sends his final assessment. He states his opinion that it would be improbable that Le Sueur would have undertaken the painting, as he was a higher caliber artist and would not paint replicas, and also apparently did not know Champaigne. He further notes that Champaigne had close ties to the Carthusians, adding: "It is thus natural that he might have painted your Saint Bruno for a Carthusian monastary...". Dorival correctly notes that the order's belongings were confiscated and sold privately during the Revolution, not reappearing until appearing at auction in the 1800s. After considering the Wapinsky painting's size, Dorival concludes that it was neither in the Fesch nor Montcalm collections: "But I might propose another one. In the Wemaer sale (Bruges, April 11, 1876, number 39) appears a Kneeling Saint-Bruno 'Attributed to Philippe de Champaigne' [copy of catalog listing present]...It does not appear impossible that your painting was in the Wemaer collection of which nothing is known since its sale in the above auction...". Finally, Dorival mentions a post-mortem inventory of the possession of Jean Baptist de Champaigne which listed a Saint Bruno by his uncle. He closes: "In any case, not knowing your picture de visu, I cannot decide whether it is an original or a copy...". Dorival's catalog raisonee of Champaigne's work was also published in 1976. Under citation no. 285, he mentions Wapinsky's painting: "...in a collection in New York, which we know only by photographs, but which seems to us a better quality than that retained in France, which, however we cannot say is in the same hand as Philippe de Champaigne: which might not be impossible....". No mention is made of Wapinsky's St. Bruno very likely being the example sold at Bruges - the Champaigne catalog raisonee had undoubtedly already gone to press by the time Wapinsky and Dorival completed their correspondence. A supplement to the catalog raisonnee was published in 1992 attributing the St. Bruno at Stockholm to Champai
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