Lot 251: André Durand (1807-1867)

André Durand (1807-1867)
Forty-one studies for 'Excursion pittoresque et archéologique en Russie exécute en 1839 sous la direction du M. Anatole de Demidoff' (fifteen illustrated)
sixteen signed 'André Durand'; eighteen initialled 'A.D.'; one signed with monogram; thirty-four inscribed as title; twenty-nine dated 1839; one dated 1848; one dated 1850; two inscribed with architectural notes
twenty-nine with pencil, nineteen with ink, thirteen with grey wash, six with brown wash, four with watercolour, seven heightened with white, all on paper, two on coloured paper
14 7/8 x 21 3/8 in. (37.7 x 54.4 cm.); and smaller (41)

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In 1839 Demidov sent André Durand, the young French artist of the Rouen School, to Russia to record the Russian landscape and its architectural treasures. The result was an exquisite album, comprising 100 lithographs, entitled Excursion pittoresque et archéologique en Russie exécuté en 1839 sous la direction du M. Anatole de Demidoff, which was published in Paris in 1842. The present lot includes the original artist's drawings, depicting impressive views of the magnificent architectural landmarks of Moscow and St Petersburg, such as 'Vue generale du Kremlin, prise du Pont de Pierre' and 'Place d'Issac et Statue de Pierre le Grand'. The published lithographs include figures added by Demidov's protégé Rafet; these are noticeably absent from Durand's original sketches.
The provinces of the Empire, such as Kazan, Nizhni Novgorod and Vladimir, were represented in a grandiose style in order to introduce European readers to traditional Russian architecture. The album proved to be extremely popular and a second edition was published a few years later. Durand planned to publish a sequel Voyage dans la Russie méridienale et la Crimée, as advertised in the first edition of the Excursion pittoresque. Durand's experience during his exotic voyage throughout Russia were expressed through extensive correspondence which was later published in Paris as 'Lettres sur l'Empire Russe'.