Alexandre-François Desportes at the Height of His Powers

Published on 29 September 2022, by Caroline Legrand

Auction on 08 October 2022 - 14:00 (CEST) - 12-14, rue Peyronnet - 33800 Bordeaux

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.

Alexandre-François Desportes (1661-1743), Perdreau, bécasses, panier de pêches et... Alexandre-François Desportes at the Height of His Powers

Alexandre-François Desportes (1661-1743), Perdreau, bécasses, panier de pêches et prunes et abricots sur un entablement (Partridge, Woodcock, Basket of Peaches and Plums and Apricots on an Entablature) and Faisan, perdreau, abricots dans une jatte imari et figues sur un entablement (Pheasant, Partridge and Apricots in an Imari Bowl and Figs on an Entablature), 1731, pair of signed and dated paintings, 79.8 x 61.8 cm/31.42 x 24.33 in.
Estimate: €100,000/150,000

There is no excess or Baroque virtuosity in these paintings, where Desportes (1661-1743) sensitively mastered the rendering of fruit and animals . Placed on a stone entablature, each item emerges from the shadows to reveal its texture and colors.…

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