Christoph Martin Vogtherr

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, a generation of collectors in France and the Holy Roman Empire developed new principles for the display of paintings, principles based on comparison triggered by the mixture of schools and periods; its aim was to encourage analysis and connoisseurship through comparison and conversation. The ground-breaking theories of Roger de Piles were central to this novel approach, and essential to its understanding. These principles were predominant until the 1780s. This book examines case studies in France, the German Empire and the UK that exemplify these new principles.

Jean de Jullienne (1686–1766) was one of the leading French amateurs and collectors of the eighteenth century. He played an important role as editor and dealer, most famously of Watteau’s œuvre, and held an influential position in the French art administration of his time, as director of the Gobelins factory until 1729. Jullienne’s collection epitomizes the most advanced taste of Parisian private collectors of the period. His strong interest in contemporary French art, Netherlandish painting, in sketches, pastels and drawings were all typical or even trendsetting for a new generation of rich Parisian collectors with only loose ties to the French court. The two sales of his collection were major events for the European art market. The watercolor views of his collection in the inventory from 1756, a unique document for the period, are here published in their entirety for the first time. This exhibition catalog will present masterworks from Jullienne’s collection, including Rubens, Rembrandt, Watteau, Wouwermans, Netscher, Bourdon, Vanloo, Greuze and Vernet. These are drawn from the Wallace Collection as well as museums in London, Edinburgh, Valenciennes, Berlin and from several important British private collections.

One of the most famous and influential artists of the eighteenth century, Jean-Antoine Watteau (c. 1684–1721) fundamentally changed the course of French painting. With masterpieces such as Les charmes de la vie, Lady at her Toilet and Les Champs Élisées, the Wallace Collection preserves one of the three outstanding collections of his paintings worldwide (together with Paris and Berlin) but it has never before been the subject of a special exhibition or a separate study. Continuing the series of monographs highlighting important works by masters in the Wallace Collection, this book discusses in depth all eight paintings by Watteau in the Collection and two of his lesser-known works at the Soane Museum and in York. Each of the paintings, which together span his entire career and represent many aspects of his work, will form the starting point for a chapter of the book. Among the topics discussed will be: Watteau and Theater, Watteau and the Art Market, The Artist at Work, Watteau – the Academician, The Erotic and the Indecent in Watteau’s Work, and Watteau in London.

The 4th Marquess of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace were both passionate collectors of miniatures, exquisite small paintings in watercolor or enamel, generally made for private contemplation and one of the most popular mediums of portraiture in an age before the advent of photography. This book presents one of the major British collections of miniatures, a group of over 330 works which formed part of the generous bequest to the British nation made by Lady Wallace in 1897.