Reggio di Calabria - Itália
Coleção privada
OST - 99x140 - 1769
This magnificent view, showing an Italian
coastal scene at sunset, with fishermen gathering in their nets, is an
outstanding example of Claude-Joseph Vernet’s landscape painting. Bathing the
scene in a golden, crepuscular light, the artist displays here his mastery in
the depiction of dramatic landscapes, contrasting the rugged rock formations
and weather-beaten trees with the calm, shimmering waters and tranquil,
naturalistic figures.
In 1734, under the
sponsorship of the Marquis de Caumont, Vernet left for Italy where he would
remain for almost two decades, painting and sketching his surroundings and
establishing himself as a marine and landscape painter. His compositions bear
the influence of the great landscape painters of the previous century, of Poussin,
Claude Lorrain and Salvator Rosa, encapsulating both the majestic skies and the
transcendent power of his natural surroundings. Yet, in contrast to those of
his predecessors, Vernet’s figures do not appear dwarfed by their surroundings,
appearing instead to exist harmoniously in their midst.
Upon his return
from Italy, the artist was employed by King Louis XV to create a pictorial
record of France’s harbours and coastline. The topographical commission was to
occupy him for a further ten years, until finally he settled in Paris, where he
returned to painting the Italianate landscapes that were so close to his heart.
It was during this period that Vernet was to execute the View of Reggio di Calabria, along
with its pendant, Entrance to the
port at Palermo. By 1769, the year the present painting was executed,
the artist was at the very height of his career and no European collection was
deemed complete without at least one painting by his hand. Many of his views by
this time, however, were almost entirely imagined, lifting elements from
existing landscape and working them into his own invented compositions. While
we know Vernet travelled to Naples, there is no evidence to suggest he ever
visited Reggio di Calabria or indeed Palermo, nor do the paintings display any
recognizable landmarks from those regions. It is entirely possible that the
titles were the invention of Nicolas Dufour who engraved the works and
inscribed their titles on the reverse (see under Engraved).
While details of
its original commission remain undetermined, the painting has since enjoyed a
provenance of considerable prestige. Nicolas Dufour’s inscription tells us that
at the time of the engravings’ execution, the painting was in the collection of
Monsieur de Longvillers (later listed as 'Longvilliers' by Florence
Ingersoll-Smouse) in Montreuil-sur-Mer, northern France.2 According to
Louis Clement de Ris, the painting then passed to the lawyer and illustrious
collector, Jean-Baptiste-Laurent Boyer de Fonscolombe (1716-1788) in
Aix-en-Provence.3 The Boyer de Fonscolombe collection,
comprising some two hundred paintings and over fifteen hundred drawings by some
of the most prominent painters and draftsmen, included works by Rembrandt
Harmensz. van Rijn, Claude Lorraine, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, François Boucher
and Giovanni Paolo Panini. The collection also boasted two further works by
Vernet, a Rocky landscape in
the manner of Salvator Rosa, listed among the works sold following Boyer de
Fonscolombe’s death, and a Clair
de Lune, commissioned by the collector himself and noted in the
artist’s Livre de Raison.4 Following
Boyer de Fonscolombe’s death in 1788, two sales were held of his
collection: one on the 18 January 1790 in Aix and another in Paris on 13
December of the same year. While both the Clair de Lune and the Rocky Landscape were listed for sale, the present painting
and its pendant do not appear among the lots, suggesting the pair were retained
by the family of the deceased.5
The View of Reggio di Calabria and
its pendant were then acquired by Tzar Alexander I of Russia in 1803 for 4,000
roubles, via art dealer Pirling and Cie, for the Hermitage Museum collection,
Saint Petersburg. The paintings appear in the museum’s catalogue from 1880 (see
L.C. de Ris under Literature)
and the reverse of the canvas still bears Russian markings, including the
inventory number 1559, the number under which it is noted by Louis Clement de
Ris. Scholarship remains divided as to whether the View of Palermo entered the museum earlier, with Louis Réau
suggesting it was purchased for the collection under the reign of Tzar Paul I,
though Ingersoll-Smouse and Nemilova agree it was acquired simultaneously with
its pendant in 1803. Tzar Alexander also bought an earlier work by
Claude-Joseph Vernet, a View of
the Città Nuova signed amd dated 1761 (inv. 1549), reuniting it
with its pendant, Marine (inv.
no. 1558) that was bought for the museum under Tzar Paul I. While the Città Nuova pair has remained
united at the museum, the View of
Reggio Calabria was separated from its pendant, and in 1933 passed
to Antiqvariat, an agency charged with the sale of works from the Hermitage,
largely to foreign buyers, to fund Russia's rapid industrialisation Russia in
the late '20s and early '30s. It seems most likely the painting was acquired
from them directly by the Parisian gallerist and dealer, Paul Cailleux, who
bought numerous paintings from Russia in this period. The present painting was
sold in Paris on 16 February 1951, remaining in the family of the buyer until
acquired by a private collector in 2007. The painting’s pendant, meanwhile is
still housed at the Hermitage, Saint Petersburg today.
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