Gérard François? Doc de Montebello

i recently picked this up at a yard sale. I was told it was a hand colored stone lithograph. I don’t know much about art but I liked the picture and got it cheap. Does anyone know anything about it? Thanks!

 

It is by François Gérard.
It seems to say Le Maréchal Lannes, Duc de Montebello. Duc is duke, marechal is marshal.

Here is info on Jean Lannes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duc_de_Montebello
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Lannes
More in French:
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Lannes
http://www.maisonslaffitte.net/BiogrLannes.htm

 

Forgot, here is info on the artist, François Gérard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/François_Gérard

 

Thanks for all the info! I appreciate it.

By any chance would you happen to know if this is something which would have been made when the artist is alive or is it an engraving that could still be produced nowadays?

 

"Aubertin sculptit" hints rather in the direction that they made it during the lifetime of Gérard; which doesn't mean that yours could not be a later copy.

 

It looks like a color lithograph, but may not be. Is this under glare-free glass? That might be obscuring the texture.

The inscription on the lower right reads "Aubertin Sculpt" and I don't see "sculpt" as being applicable to a lithograph.

I think this is an intaglio print by Francois Aubertin. I'm guessing hand-colored.

Francois Aubertin (1773-1821) was a French engraver credited with inventing a new aquatint (or possibly mezzotint) process that closely imitated brushwork. (I see references to both aquatint and mezzotint... but then I also see references to colored lithographs.)

From the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Google translate):
... The author, François Aubertin, this inventor of a "new method of engraving by washing which perfectly imitates the drawing with a brush" (according to the announcement of the Moniteur) is, according to Mr. Béraldi, "one of the engravers to the most insignificant aquatint. Born in Metz on July 6, 1773, died in Ghent on October 27, 1821, he had worked in Paris for a few years "in the sad way of the end of Debucourt". More favored than other better-skilled engravers, Aubertin was the subject of a special study published in 1853, by P.-J. Goetghebuer, in the Annals of the Royal Society of Fine Arts and Literature of Ghent

https://translate.google.ca/transla...fr/fr/14979028/francois_aubertin/&prev=search

Aubertin was a contemporary of Gérard and apparently engraved other images by him.

If it is an intaglio print by Aubertin, that would date it c1810 (give or take a few years).

It looks like there's acid burn from the mat. You would do well to replace it. The stain will affect the value. (The present mat certainly seems to crowd the bottom title, but possibly the print has slipped in the frame.)

 

From a 1908 auction catalog:

LE MV LANNES, DUC DE MONTEBELLO. Full length in uniform, head to right, standing on the field of battle, to the right of a prancing horse, a chapeau held in the right hand, dismantled cannon, &c., at the feet. Rectangle. Aquatint, printed in colors. Gerard pinx. Aubertin sculp. Size 9 11-16X6 12-16. Very rare.

See here - item 697:
https://archive.org/stream/unequalledcollec01mitc_0/unequalledcollec01mitc_0_djvu.txt

***Edit""" the item number in that catalog link is 967 (transposed the numbers).

 

Thankyou! yes the photo I took is through the glass with glare and reflection. I do want to replace the frame and matting. The way it is now is how it was when I picked it up. I think I paid $20 for it. I can’t find anything online to compare it with.

I did take a quick look at it through a loupe and it seems to be textured or raised... but I don’t know much about art or the corrrect words to use. I just happened to like the subject of the photo.

 

To sum it up, so far as the print itself is concerned, I think you can safely say it is a Napoleonic era (early 19th C) aquatint by François Aubertin after a painting by François Gérard.

The original painting is in the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas.
http://www.mrodenberg.com/2013/03/19/finding-napoleon-in-austin-texas/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/favaustintx/8516408997/

I can't find when it was painted but, as per AJ's links, Jean Lannes was created duc de Montebello in 1808 and died in 1809.

The print may have been created when his body was moved
from Les Invalides to the Panthéon national in 1810.

 

without taking it out you can't say anything safely and you won't find anyone that's willing to pay an adequate price.

 

I’m gonna take it out and post some more photos when I get home. Is there anything specific to look for..kind of paper etc?

 

You want to look for a plate mark - an indentation in the paper surrounding the entire image.

And if you can get a good crisp close-up of the ground surrounding either of his feet, that should show the texture expected in an aquatint. If I understand his technique, it will have to be a good, sharp close-up - the closer the better.

 

Hello all! I took some more photos... I tried to use my loupe against my phone camera for some closeups. It seems to have an indentation around the whole picture. The picture appears to be one larger sheet of thick paper folded (picture of the back of picture included). The closeups are one of the boot and the other of his jacket sleeve near the overturned artillery. The color appears very nice. Some pictures of the edge also added.

Thanks for any input!



















(The last photo of the ground was taken through the frame after I put the picture back - everything else was taken out of frame)

 

Also on the frame backing .. the old paper that covered the whole back of the frame had a tag that fell out when I opened it.. it said Newman Galleries Philadelphia - seems very old.

I’m hoping that since it was sold at a legit gallery that it’s authentic lol.

 

The pictures aren't great, but it seems to have the granular texture you would expect from an aquatint. I don't think that texture belongs with any other pre-modern repro technique. And it does have a plate mark.

I'm uncertain as to how the color was applied, but tiny discrepancies indicate handwork. Can't tell if the color was applied to the plate or afterwards (could be some of each).

I see no reason to change my earlier opinion.

The condition is really bad. A lot of acid damage. When you put it back together, at least put a new piece of paper behind the print. Pretty much anything will be an improvement. Just don't use corrugated.

 

Thanks again for all your help.

Is it something worth selling? Or is it worth nothing due to condition. I paid $20 for it.

 

I'm sure you could sell it for a good profit, but I've proven many times that I'm not the one to ask for a valuation.

It's condition isn't good, but it is a rare print of an important Napoleonic subject. It's from the period, and it's an attractive image.