Lot 3222 - A200 19th Century Paintings - Friday, 01. April 2022, 04.00 PM
ZACHARIE CHARLES LANDELLE
(Laval 1821–1908 Chennevières–sur–Marne)
Portrait of an Armenian woman.
Oil on canvas.
Signed lower left: Ch Landelle.
48.6 × 33.2 cm.
Provenance:
Swiss private collection.
The French Orientalist painter Zacharie Charles Landelle is known for his portraits and figure paintings. He studied under the painter of historical subjects Paul Delaroche (1797–1856) and the talented portraitist Ary Scheffer (1795–1858) at the École des Beaux-arts in Paris, and began his training by copying Old Master paintings in the Louvre. In order to earn a living, he began painting portraits, which became especially popular. Some of his portraits were presented in an exhibition at the Salon of 1841, where they attracted the attention of King Louis-Philippe I (1773–1850). Soon thereafter, he was appointed official court painter. From 1865, he made several trips to the Middle East and North Africa.
Landelle’s approach to figure painting was marked less by ethnographical interests than by emotional ones, as evidenced by the present work. This portrait of an Armenian woman, which is a smaller version of a painting in the Wallace Collection in London (ill.1), is remarkable for its precise execution. The two paintings differ only slightly, namely in the details of the jewellery and clothing: the bracelet in the present work is made of white materials, while in the larger painting it is darker. Casimir Stryienski, author of the 1911 Paris publication, Une carrière d'artiste au XIXe siècle, Charles Landelle, 1821–1908, also reported in 1910 the existence of ‘other, unspecified half-length versions’ of this painting, which probably includes ours. Both paintings were most likely created in Paris using models in costume, before Landelle’s travels to the Middle East.
We are grateful to Richard Green for his scholarly support in cataloguing this painting.
CHF 10 000 / 15 000 | (€ 10 310 / 15 460)
Sold for CHF 11 250 (including buyer’s premium)
All information is subject to change.