Lot 17 : Gustave Moreau (French, 1826-1898)

Gustave Moreau - 1826-1898

Auction Location: United Kingdom - 2001
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Description:

Sainte C‚cile (Les Anges lui annoncent son prochain martyre) signed 'Gustave Moreau' (lower left) oil on canvas 28 3/8 x 23 5/8 in. (73.2 x 60 cm.) Painted in 1897 PROVENANCE Alfred Baillehache, purchased directly from the artist for FFr6,000. Galerie Georges Petit, Paris (purchased for FFr12,000). Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris (as Nuit au chƒteau ). HessŠle. Prince de Wagram (purchased for FFr25,000, by 1911) Anon. sale, Sotheby's, 15 March 1983, lot 72. LITERATURE P. Flat, Le Mus‚e Gustave Moreau, L'artiste, son oeuvre, son influence, Paris, 1899, p. 242 (as Le Songe de sainte C‚cile ). A. Renan, Gustave Moreau, Paris, 1900, p. 34. A. F. Damanskaia, 'Gustave Moreau', Apollon, St. Petersberg, 1911, no. 4, pp. 23-29 (illustrated p. 32). P. L. Mathieu, Gustave Moreau, sa vie, son oeuvre. Catalogue raisonn‚ de l'oeuvre achev‚, Fribourg, 1976, no. 428 (illustrated p. 364). P. L. Mathieu, Gustave Moreau, monographie et nouveau catalogue de l'ouevre achev‚, Paris, 1998, no. 465 (illustrated p. 422). NOTES Moreau produced many representations of Saint Cecilia towards the end of his life, and the present work is the most ambitious and fully realised of these as well as the last major picture that he completed before his death in 1898. In this mystical work, rich in detail, the Saint is portrayed seated in a moonlit landscape in front of a mysterious citadel by a lake, while angels playing musical instruments descend and warn her of her impending martyrdom. Cecilia was a Roman virgin who was martyred in the 2nd or 3rd century AD. Brought up as a Christian, she took a vow of chastity and on marrying the Roman nobleman Valerius she persuaded him to accept sexual abstinence as well. In return he was permitted to see her guardian angel who placed garlands of roses and lilies on their heads. Valerius was baptised a Christian, but both were later martyred for their faith. Saint Cecilia is most famous, however, as the patron saint of Music and she has frequently been portrayed in this role from the 15th century onwards. Moreau has interpreted the legend in his own inimitable way. Cecilia seems to hold a musical instrument by her side, which she has stopped playing in order to listen to the angels surrounding her. She bows her head gracefully as the kneeling angel, in a pose reminiscent of the Annunciation, tells of her sad fate. The musical instruments carried by the angels are of rare design, and add to the exotic mystery of the scene. The angel above Cecilia's head appears to play an elaborate harp, while the seated angel on the right plays a string instrument, that bears a resemblance to an Indian sitar. The kneeling angel has temporarily set aside her lyre, while the angel on the far right also takes a rest from playing. Something of Moreau's working method can be seen from the surviving full-scale oil sketch for this work (fig.1). In chiaroscuro he blocks in the figures and then maps out the shadows, reflections and highlights of the full moon on the scene as a whole. This underlying structure is present in the final version, although an additional light source has been added illuminating the figures, all of whom have radiant haloes. Nevertheless, the reflection of the moon can still be detected in the finished work on the column on the left, the ledge of the balcony and on the turrets of the citadel. Cecilia herself also appears to be bathed in moonlight with highlights catching her right arm and left knee. The rich, saturated colours and ornate details to be found in Sainte CŠcile are typical of Moreau's late work. The complex layering of the paint surface produces a jewel-like quality in such areas as the angels's wings, and haloes (fig.2), as well as in the elaborate costumes. This delight in such detail bears comparison with Moreau's other late masterpiece Jupiter et S‚m‚l‚ (fig.3). This extraordinary work, which took Moreau six years to complete, is full of mythical figures in extravagant costumes, headed by Jupiter himself seated on an architectural throne. Moreau sought inspiration in an eclectic mixture of source material, and these two works show obvious debts to early Italian Renaissance masters and Medieval illumination, as well as to a variety of Indian sources. Moreau was a frequent visitor to the Moghul miniatures in the Mus‚e du Louvre and the Cabinet des estampes of the BibliothŠque National. He also accumulated a large number of Indian images and photographs from periodicals and magazines. In Sainte C‚cile these Indian influences can be seen, not only in some of the musical instruments, but also in the architectural design of the citadel. It was partly these wide-ranging influences that made Moreau's work so unusual and unlike any of his contemporaries. It was not the choice of subject matter, which was normally quite traditional, but the way he treated these subjects that set Moreau apart. Indeed Zola once commented that '[Moreau's] talent consiste … prendre des sujets qu'ont d‚j… trait‚s d'autres artistes, et … les remanier d'une fa‡on diffŠrente, plus ingŠnieuse' ( Salon 1876 ). Moreau's last years were extremely productive ones, for not only did he continue to paint, producing some of his finest works, but he was also appointed professeur-chefs d'atelier at the Ecole des beaux-arts, in 1892. He was an inspiring teacher, judging from the testimony of some of his most famous students, Georges Rouault, Henri Matisse, Charles Camoin and Henri Manguin among others. Some of the most revolutionary tendencies in early 20th century art were nurtured in his studio. Moreau thought deeply on the subject of painting and was always open to new ideas and methods. The other main enterprise in these final years was the bequest of his house and studio at 14 rue de la Rochefoucauld, to the nation as a Museum (fig. 4). Moreau remodelled and enlarged the studio area and hung the walls with numerous canvases of various sizes. These were included in the bequest, along with many sketches and drawings. The MusŠe Gustave Moreau was opened to the public in 1903. Moreau enjoyed a fair degree of commercial success since he first started exhibiting at the Salons of the 1860s. This continued into his final years and many of his late works, that were not earmarked for the Museum, were acquired by dealers and collectors. The present work was purchased directly from the artist by Alfred Baillehache (1870-1922), the nephew of the great connoisseur Antony Roux, and one of Moreau's most loyal collectors during his lifetime. Baillehache began acquiring works by Moreau before 1890, and he was also the artist's first cataloguer. In his catalogue he mentions that Sainte CŠcile was the last work to leave the artist's studio before his death.