[JOSÉPHINE (Empress)]. - CONSTANTIN (Guillaume-Jean).... - Lot 151 - Osenat

Lot 151
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[JOSÉPHINE (Empress)]. - CONSTANTIN (Guillaume-Jean).... - Lot 151 - Osenat
[JOSÉPHINE (Empress)]. - CONSTANTIN (Guillaume-Jean). Catalog of the paintings of Her Majesty the Empress Josephine, in the gallery and appartemens of her Palace of Malmaison. [Paris, from the printing house of Didot jeune, 1811]. In-4, 38 pp, without the cover, the first page of which serves as the title of the work, and without the last leaf paginated 39-40 which bears printed columns left blank for additions, repacked in a contemporary binding of red long-grained morocco, smooth spine decorated with gilt greek, gilt palmette frieze framing the boards with gilt coat of arms of the First Empire in the center (unrecorded iron close to pl. No. 2652 of OHR), dark green silk lining and endpapers renewed, leaves warped by humidity, light marginal wetness. VERY RARE, AND WELL COMPLETED WITH ITS SUPPLEMENT (pp. 33-38). A great lover of art, the empress assembled an important collection of paintings in her château of Malmaison, made up from purchases at public sales, exchanges, and even a seizure. She had two galleries built: a "small gallery" by Percier and Fontaine, where she placed the works of modern artists (including several in the troubadour style), and a "large gallery" by Berthault in 1807, where the old works were exhibited (including paintings by L'Albane and Andrea del Sarto). On December 1, 1807, Josephine hired the art dealer Guillaume-Jean Constantin as curator of this collection, who gave advice, acted as an intermediary for acquisitions, and wrote the present catalog with its supplement. The 294 numbers listed (Nos. 1-252 for the catalog and 253-294 for the supplement) also include a few miniatures, drawings, enamels, porcelains, and bas-reliefs. This catalog "establishes a state that we could call definitive, as no other previous document has this exhaustive character or organization. It was printed after the arrival of the two large blocks that made up the old collection - the paintings from Cassel [by seizure] in 1806 and those from L'Élysée [by exchange] in 1809 - and was completed by a supplement that included the paintings acquired in 1811 from the dealer [Louis] Varico [...]. It should be noted, however, that this catalog indicated a fleeting state of equilibrium: [...] more than forty works were missing" (Alain Pougetoux, La Collection de peintures de l'impératrice Joséphine, Paris, RMN, 2003, p. 9).
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