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Lot 1035
Description:
Charles Joshua Chaplin (French, 1825-1891), "Apollo and the Muses", sketch for a ceiling design, oil on canvas, signed lower right, 23 5/8 in. x 36 1/2 in., overall dimensions 29 in. x 42 in., in a giltwood frame.
- Notes: Note: One of the most popular artists of his day, Chaplin was a favorite of the Court of Napoleon III. He studied at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris and at the atelier of Michel-Martin Drolling (1789-1851). By the mid 1840s Chaplin was regularly exhibiting at the Paris Salon and the Royal Academy in London, frequently winning awards. He initially trained as a realist landscape artist, but soon began to concentrate on the genre scenes for which he was to become well known. One of Chaplin's greatest admirers was the Empress Eugénie, who once told the artist, "I admire you. Your pictures are not merely indecorous, they are more." Inspired by the voluptuousness of François Boucher (1703-1770) and Jean Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806), Chaplin created provocative works that often verged on the erotic. His submission to the Salon of 1859 so scandalized the members that they placed a temporary exhibition ban on the work; Napoleon III later had this ban rescinded. Following in the footsteps of the Rococo masters he admired, Chaplin also worked as a decorative artist, creating extensive murals for various Parisian buildings and residences including the Salon des Fleurs in the Tuileries and the Salon de l'Hemicycle (the Empress's private chamber) in the Palais de l'Elysée. The present lot was likely a preliminary sketch for one of the many residential murals he was commissioned to design. Chaplin was made a Chevalier of the Légion of Honor in 1879 and an officer in 1881. His women only atelier included Marie Helene Aarestrup (Norwegian, b. 1826), Louise Abbéma (French, 1858-1927), and Mary Cassatt (American, 1855-1926) References: Muther. The History of Modern Painting - Vol. II. J.M. Dent and Sons. London. 1907. pp. 421-423. Bénézit. Dictionnaire des Peintres. Librairie Grund. 1976. Vol. II, p. 663.
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September 13, 2009 11:00 AM CDT
New Orleans, LA, US
Neal Auction Company
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