François Carlier-rubrecq (circa 1820-1830) Study Of Various Art Objects

François CARLIER-RUBRECQ
(active around 1820-1830)
Study of various works of art
Oil on canvas
H. 50 cm; L. 58.5 cm
Signed and dated upper left, countersigned on the stretcher 1825

Exhibition : Salon de Lille of 1825, N ° 822 of the booklet

The author of our work is most probably the son of Pierre-Joseph Carlier , the restorer of paintings who worked for the administration of the Louvre, notably under the direction of Fereol Bonnemaison and the Count of Forbin at the time of Louis XVIII. François-Joseph-Marie Carlier also became a restorer of paintings, in Lille, where he is referenced as such in 1819. He was married there in 1811 to Adeline-Charlotte-Désirée-Joseph Rubrecq, and had attached to his name that of his wife, as was often the case at the time. We know that he exhibited his productions, portraits and genre scenes, in various salons in the north of France: in Lille in 1822 and 1825, in Douai in 1823 and 1829, in Valenciennes in 1833. His son Victor Carlier kissed also a painter's career, and exhibited at the Salons of Valenciennes and Arras in 1833.

This still life brings together, on a green cloth carpet, some plant elements (a rose and cherries), but above all of decorative art: a child's head carved in the antique style, a small bronze bust of Henri IV (a reference to the return of the Bourbons, which situates the painting in its time), two pearl necklaces, a glass and a crystal decanter, a wind musical instrument (probably an oboe), as well as two pieces of goldsmith's work. In the Dutch style of the 17th century, the artist has a window reflected in the crystal of the decanter and in the silver ewer; this one also returns the image of several objects of the composition and, funny detail, that of the artist. Several probable influences can be detected in this original composition by an artist unknown to this day. Clara Peeters (1594-after 1657) with her beautiful regular layouts mixing fruits, flowers, glassware and pieces of silverware; Thomas-Germain Duvivier (1735-1814), who often introduced sculptures in marble or plaster in his silent compositions dedicated to the arts and music; Johann-Rudolf Feyerabend, dit Lelong (1779-1814), and his rows of heterogeneous objects (vases of flowers, card games, pastries, bird cages, musical instruments, coffee sets, etc.) in gouaches of small format.

We can explain these influences by the solid knowledge of painting that Carlier-Rubrecq had built up, not only thanks to his activity as a restorer of paintings (and that of his father), but also as a collector (he exhibited several paintings belonging to the Lille exhibition of 1835, including a Van Veen, a de Heem, or a Savery).