Jean-Louis GUDIN (1799-1823), attributed to, - Lot 243

Lot n° 243
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Estimation :
800 - 1200 EUR
Jean-Louis GUDIN (1799-1823), attributed to, - Lot 243
Jean-Louis GUDIN (1799-1823), attributed to, The taking of Alexandria, July 3, 1798. Watercolor gouache, pen and black ink on two sheets marouflaged on old cardboard. Coaster, pitchpin frame. H.45 x W.60.5 cm. B.E. (Traces of humidity) On the reverse side of the cardboard, there are accountancy leaves dating from 1821. This composition was used to illustrate Volume III of Trophée des armées françaises, campagne d'Égypte, based on a drawing by Gudin, engraved by Couché fils and finished by Bovinet, and later published in Images d'Épinal. Historical background: The capture of Alexandria on July 3, 1798, the day after the French landed, was the first battle fought in Egypt and the first victory over the Mamluks. The final battle of the Egyptian campaign took place in Alexandria on March 21, 1801. It pitted French troops commanded by General Menou against British forces led by Sir Ralph Abercromby, who had landed in Egypt to put an end to the French presence. Despite fierce resistance from the French soldiers and Abercromby's death from wounds, the battle marked a decisive turning point in favor of the British, and preceded the French capitulation a few months later. Biography : Jean-Louis GUDIN was a French painter and illustrator active during the late First Empire and early Restoration. The elder brother of marine painter Théodore Gudin, he grew up in an artistic milieu marked by the taste for history painting, military scenes and Napoleonic subjects characteristic of the early 19th century. His career was cut short by his tragic death on March 4, 1823, when he drowned in the Seine at the age of twenty-four. This episode is recounted by Eugène Sue in Volume IV of La Vie de Paris (pp. 228-235).
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