Victor GIRAUD (Paris, 1840-1871) Lot n° 30

Boissy d'Anglas saluting the head of the deputy Féraud on the 1st prairial year III. Ink and gouache on paper. Bears at the bottom left the stamp of the Giraud sale and the personal stamp of collection "V" of Victor Giraud. Framed. H. 17,5 x L. 25,5 cm. History Our sketch takes up a theme made famous in art history by Guizot, President of the Council of Louis-Philippe, who launched a competition in September 1830 to select three paintings to decorate the Chamber of Deputies. Three themes were then imposed: Louis-Philippe taking the oath to the constitutional chamber on August 29, 1830; Mirabeau replying to the marquis of Dreux-Brézé on June 23, 1789; Boissy d'Anglas saluting the head of Féraud on Prairial 1, Year III. Each candidate could choose one of these three subjects and fifty-three of them chose to represent Boissy d'Anglas, among them Delacroix (Bordeaux museum), Alexandre Evariste Fragonard (Louvre museum), Paul Chenavard (Carnavalet museum), Roehn (Tarbes), etc. The scene allows the study of a myriad of emotions, in a dynamic composition teeming with characters. This potentiality certainly explains its success with artists, even those much later such as Victor Giraud. In this sketch, he studies different emotions: anger mixed with disgust, instinctive repulsion and surprise, in a ballet of movements skilfully directed. The position of the character on the left, hanging from the stand, allows us to detect a possible comic dimension introduced by the artist. In public collections, few finished works by this painter survive, but there are many sketches similar to ours, such as the one showing five figures seen from behind, now in the Louvre. The artist's modern and lively style can also be seen in this study which, like our drawing, bears the stamp of the Giraud sale, which took place from February 9 to 13, 1886, accompanied by Victor Giraud's personal stamp: a V followed by a dot (the two marks are listed under the Lugt numbers L.1084 and L.3456 respectively).