François Desportes (1661-1743)

This still life by François Desportes making its auction debut illustrates the influence of the Regent, a bon vivant and aesthete, barely a year after the Sun King's death. In excellent condition, the painting has been passed down through the family of the collector Louis Burat to the present day.

The painter of the royal hunts made this pair of still lifes in 1731, when he was master of the genre and already the reference in France.

On 19 September at Briscadieu, Still Life with Game Trophy, Fruit and Parrot Against a Niche surpassed its estimate of €200,000 and was sold for €2m, a world record for the 17th-century French painter, who is known for his hunting scenes. Missing since 1888, the work belonged to Philippe d’Orléans.

His dazzling, virtuosic rendering of fruit skins and birds' plumage made the master's Still Life a distinct rival to an extremely rare series of Inca emperor portraits.

Selected, and sometimes outstanding, works by diverse, highly sought-after artists achieved excellent results in Bordeaux.

Until now, Portrait de l’artiste en chasseur (Portrait of the Artist as a Hunter) by Alexandre-François Desportes was deemed the first painting of its kind in the history of French art. A recent discovery by René Millet has changed that.

The curator at the Château de Fontainebleau since 2016 has no shortage of plans, from restorations to exhibitions and promoting the legacy of François I.

Painted when the artist was not yet famous, this seaside subject puts people at the center of the composition.

Held to be the first hunter's portrait in French painting, this work by Jean Daret, a predecessor of François Desportes - was the perfect opportunity for the Parisian museum to seize. The same sale crowned a Meal of the Peasants by Bruegel the Younger, which easily doubled its low estimate at €1.35 million.

This portrait of Claude Le Blanc (1669-1728) reveals early 18th-century customs.