DRAWINGS, PAINTINGS, AND WRITINGS FROM THE ARISTOPHIL COLLECTIONS
A selection of writings by famous painters mainly from the 19th and 20th centuries, such as Courbet, Rodin, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Cézanne, Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, Dubuffet, Tanguy...
Around thirty graphic works will enhance nearly 160 writings: from a late 15th-century Book of Hours case to the paintings of Enki Bilal, we will find paintings or drawings by Rubens, Ricci known as Il Giampetrino, Hubert Robert, Gérome, Géricault, Henri Martin, Renoir, Pissarro, and Van Gogh... Among this beautiful selection, an atypical work in the Aristophil collections:
An extraordinary album containing 26 gouaches on vellum depicting biblical and historical scenes, with a repoussé silver waffle border featuring geometric motifs. This album was most likely offered to the Emperor of China in the 18th century, as evidenced by the cover and back in wood, covered with yellow silk fabric decorated with swastikas and rocks among the waves.
The gouaches were inspired by European engravings, including engravings by Matthäus Merian (1593-1650), a renowned Swiss engraver, known especially for his series Topographia Germaniae. The Icones Biblicae series, 1625-1630, from which these engravings were drawn, was used to illustrate a Bible translated into German by Martin Luther (1483-1546) in 1545, commonly known as "The Merian Bible." Merian also made a map of China in 1636, titled "China Veteribus Sinarum Regio nunc Incolis Tame dicta." The 26 gouaches on vellum are all very lively, with very vivid tones, and constitute a remarkable historical and storied narrative; the characters are neither European nor Asian but an amusing mix of these two civilizations. To be consulted without moderation!
Contact
Sophie Perrine
perrine@aguttes.com
+33 1 41 92 06 44