Lot 97: PIERRE-ANTOINE DEMACHY

PIERRE-ANTOINE DEMACHY PARIS 1723- 1807 FANTASTICAL ARCHITECTURAL STUDIES WITH FIGURES Quantity: 2 a pair, both signed lower left: Demachy both, oil on canvas each: 21 1/2 by 28 3/4 in.; 54.6 by 73 cm.

Anonymous sale, Paris, Christophe Joron-Derem, 29 June 2005, lot 22;
With Colnaghi's, London;
From whom acquired by the present owner.

These delicate and ethereal paintings depict what appears to be the same grand country villa, first at a distance in profile and then closer up in cross-section. Although generally Palladian in design, the many ornate sculptures and elaborate cornices and moldings that Demachy has added, give the structure an almost fantastical, fairy-tale air. Although it is unclear whether these paintings were intended as actual studies for a building project or as architectural capriccios, the promenading figures and the bits of fallen stone, which dot the landscape in the cross-section image, seem to suggest the latter. There are a few small architectural differences between the two structures (mainly in their sculptural ornamentation and the placement of the outdoor fountains); however, the similarities are so striking that one can be sure the artist intended to depict the same building.

Best remembered as a painter of architectural views and history scenes, Demachy studied under the painter and architect Servandoni before being accepted into the Academy in 1755. He was appointed teacher of perspective in 1786 and, like his contemporary Hubert Robert, was keenly interested in the dramatic and rapid architectural changes occurring in Paris during the final years of the monarchy and early years of the Revolution. He recorded many of these alterations in works such as The Demolition of Saints Innocents, Paris (formerly with Cailleux, Paris) and The Clearing of the Colonnade du Louvre (formerly in the Karl Lagerfeld Collection). Today, these works and other similar paintings and drawings from the period serve as an important source of information that aid in historical reconstructions of the city.