"Shipwreck on the Cliff" Claude Joseph Vernet (Avignon 1714 - Paris 1789) Signed and dated 1786 Oil on canvas Period: Second half of the 18th century Canvas 112 x 60 cm, frame 130 x 77 cm Excellent condition Provenance: 25/03/1992 Christie's - Rome, Italy AUCTION OF OLD MASTER PAINTINGS Lot no. 91 Claude Joseph Vernet (Avignon 1714 - Paris 1789) "Shipwrecked People Asking for Help on a Rocky Coast" Oil on canvas cm. 112 x 60 Estimate: (55,000,000 ITL - 60,000,000 ITL) A very similar work was recently auctioned by Dobiaschofsky in Bern, Switzerland, with an estimate of over 200,000 euros. Internationale Kunst 4.11.2022 lot 348 Claude Joseph Vernet (Avignon 1714 - Paris 1789) "Shipwreck" Oil on canvas Estimate: 200,000 CHF - 202,430 euros (see details on our website) The splendid painting, of great charm and immediate and spectacular effect, depicts a lively shipwreck scene illuminated by a patch of blue sky opening up among the dark clouds after the storm. The work, of remarkable beauty, highlights all the pictorial, chromatic and descriptive characteristics of the seascapes of the great French Master Claude Joseph Vernet, in one of his most representative compositions, namely shipwreck scenes. His famous depictions with the extraordinary and inimitable atmospheric conditions always poised between darkness and light, between calm and storm, express contrasting feelings, made even more intense by a palette of vibrant colors. The canvas is generously sized and the elongated horizontal shape, favored by the Author, allows him to capture a sequence of scenes where the shipwrecked people struggle scattered along the cliff. The dark rock wall, back lit with the fort overlooking the sea, contrasts with the dazzling light of the blue sky, and is a peculiar element of his repertoire. The work is in excellent condition, already perfectly cleaned and relined with a splendid finely carved and gilded frame. The pictorial quality of this painting is decidedly of a high level and is close, also considering the dimensions, to the most beautiful production of the great Master Biography Born in Avignon, in the heart of Provence, Vernet received his first art studies in southern France. The painter Adrien Manglard is attributed to him as a teacher, but already at the age of 14 he helped his father Antoine Vernet (1689-1753), a painter specialized in decorations, in the most important phases of his work. Painting panels for sedan chairs, however, could certainly not satisfy his ambitions. Thus, in 1734, Vernet left for Rome, to study the previous masters of landscape and to learn from marine painters, such as Claude Lorrain, whose stylistic similarities can be seen in his later works. Already on the departure for Italy, from the port of Marseille, the view of the French coasts and the journey to Civitavecchia deeply impressed him, to the point that, once in Rome, he immediately entered the studio of Bernardino Fergioni, a well-known artist of sea landscapes, who became his most famous teacher. Little by little Vernet attracted the attention of the Roman artistic environment. What distinguished him was the ability to depict in his canvases, almost always seascapes, particular effects and atmospheric phenomena: this made his works very unusual and fascinating. Vernet, among other things, representing nature, left vast spaces (up to two thirds of the painting) to the sky, as well as to the scenes of daily life that animated the various places. Perhaps no landscape or marine painter has ever treated human figures as Vernet, considering them primary elements of the scenes represented. In this he was certainly influenced by Giovanni Paolo Panini, whom he met in Rome and alongside whom he most likely worked. Vernet always applied himself to real subjects, but in no case did he interpret them in a sentimental or emotional way. The overall effect of this attitude is a totally decorative-descriptive style. Vernet maintained this style practically identical throughout his life. His work as a landscape painter, always attentive also to the phenomena of the air, combines with a vivid sense of pictorial harmony that recalls, not by chance, Claude Lorrain. Vernet lived in Rome for twenty years. He portrayed ports, coasts, storms and calms, effects of moonlight. He became popular especially among English aristocrats, many of whom came to Rome on the Grand Tour. In 1745 he married Maddalena Stern, Roman but of Bavarian origin, who was the sister of the painter Ludovico Stern. Vernet was a Freemason, member of the lodge of the "Neuf Soeurs", belonging to the Grand Orient of France. In 1753 Abel-François Poisson de Vandières, Marquis de Marigny, future Director of the Constructions of Louis XV, recalled Vernet to his homeland and commissioned him, on royal order, 24 views of as many French ports, in order to inform people about life in the ports. But only 15 of them were made, from 1753 to 1762, (today partly preserved in the Louvre, partly in the Musée de la Marine). These paintings are authentic testimonies of what life was like in the ports 250 years ago, made Vernet one of the greatest marine painters and for them he is best known. Vernet, over time, returned to his Italian themes, as demonstrated by one of his last works "The Beach", preserved at the National Gallery. Upon his return from Rome he was appointed member of the Academy of France and exhibited his works until his death, which struck him in his lodgings at the Louvre palace, in December 1789. A certificate of authenticity is issued according to law (FIMA affiliate) Tracked shipping (DHL TRACKING) and fully insured with anti-shock packaging in custom-made wooden crate. Delivery within 3 working days from receipt of payment (DHL EXPRESS) If the distance allows it, direct delivery of the painting is possible. Negotiable price - Customized payment ALL PHOTOGRAPHIC DETAILS ON link: https://www.antichitaischia.it/it/prodotto/naufragio-sulla-scogliera