Lot 81: Louis-Auguste Brun, called Brun de Versoix (Rolle 1758- 1815 Versoix)

Four views of the Grandes Ecuries at Chantilly; and Three views of a town on a lake ( recto ); Studies of dogs (two versi ) pencil, grey and brown wash averaging 7 5/8 x 10 1/8 in. (193 x 255 mm.) (7) PROVENANCE Album Edmond CheneviŠre. LITERATURE (1-4) J. Cordey, 'Quelques dessins de L.-A. Brun concernant Chantilly', Bulletin de la Soci‚t‚ de l'Histoire de l'Art Fran‡ais, 1930, pp. 170-2. (1-4) J. Cordey, 'Quelques vues in‚dites de Chantilly par Louis-Auguste Brun', Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 1931, pp. 305-12. (1-4) D. Agassiz, 'Louis-Auguste Brun, 1758-1815, un peintre suisse … la cour de Louis XV', Soci‚t‚ Vaudoise des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, 1931, pp. 23-4, 39. (1-4) A. de Herdt and L. de La Rochefoucauld, Louis-Auguste Brun, Geneva, 1986, nos. 287-290, all illustrated. EXHIBITION (1-4) Paris, La Fondation de la Chasse et de la Nature, H“tel Gu‚neguaud, L.-A. Brun, 1967, nos. 6, 61-3. (1-4) Geneva, Mus‚e d'art et d'histoire, 1986, nos. 287-290. NOTES Although of French origin, Brun's family lived at Rolle in Switzerland, where he was trained by local painters. In 1780 he went to Turin, but on the recommendation of Victor-Am‚d‚e of Savoy he left for Paris in 1781. He entered the studio of J.B.M. Pierre but quickly moved on to work for the Duc de Luynes. In 1783 he was presented to King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette, who hired him to paint the Hunts of the King. By 1786 he began to teach painting to the Queen and the King's sister. In 1789-1790 he returned to Switzerland and bought a house in Versoix on the French side of the frontier. The present drawings were executed around 1788 and show various angles of the classical buildings of the stables at Chantilly. The large door is the entrance to the m‚nagerie.