Lot 115: Aurèle Robert (Chaux-de-Fonds 1805-1835 Ried-sur-Bienne)

Harvesters in the Pontine Marshes
black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, squared in black chalk
8 7/8 x 13 1/2 in. (225 x 344 mm.)

A. Robert, Souvenirs relatifs à mes ouvrages, Neuchâtel, 1874, p. 26.
P. Gassier, Léopold Robert, Neuchâtel, 1983, p. 326 under no. 99.

Comtesse de Menoud, according to the inscription on the mount 'Offert par Léopold Robert à la Comtesse de Menou (Rome 1831.)'.

Aurèle Robert was eleven years younger than his more famous brother Léopold whom he joined in Rome in 1822 to become his pupil and closest collaborator. He soon began to specialise in making highly finished copies in pen and wash of his brother's paintings.
Harvesters in the Pontine Marshes is Léopold Robert's undisputed masterpiece (P. Gassier, op. cit., no. 99). It was painted in Rome in 1830-31 and exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1831, where it met with great success and was purchased by King Louis-Philippe for 8,000 francs. The painting is now in the Louvre.
This drawing is listed by Aurèle, op. cit., as having been executed in 1830 for 'Mad. la Comtesse de Menoud'.

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Please note that this drawing should not carry the dagger symbol.