étienne Jeaurat (paris 1699-1789 Versailles) In The Sculptor's Workshop Signed And Dated 1764

Étienne Jeaurat (Paris 1699-1789 Versailles) In the sculptor's workshop signed and dated lower left: Jeaurat/p. 1764 Oil on canvas 71.5 x 66 cm Provenance: Dorotheum, Vienna, 11.5.2022, n° 129 (€30,000) Private collection, Germany The present painting, which represents a sculptor in his workshop with the models and tools of his profession, is a typically varied composition from the hand of Étienne Jeaurat. Jeaurat, known for his harsh street scenes and interiors like this one, where numerous ornate objects and various still life elements attract the eye, had the nickname "French Teniers", in reference to the genre scenes of the great Flemish artist. David Teniers the Younger, active a century before him. Jeaurat's lighting and the human theatricality of his interiors, as also expressed here, satisfy this flattering comparison. A similar work, entitled In the Artist's Studio, is at the Frerens Art Gallery, Hull. Orphaned at an early age, Jeaurat was under the tutelage of Nicholas Vleughels, a Franco-Flemish painter and close friend of Antoine Watteau, who took Jeaurat to Rome. Ancient architecture therefore appears in many of Jeaurat's works. Jeaurat worked mainly in Paris, where he often exhibited at the Salon des Artistes du Louvre, which was then primarily a royal residence and not a museum. He became rector of the Academy of Painting and Sculpture and ultimately curator of the royal painting collection at Versailles. It was the crowning achievement of a brilliant career at the heart of the artistic institution in 18th-century France. Inv. no. 5,191 € 10.750