Description
Jean-Baptiste Blin de Fontenay (Caen 1653 – 1715 Paris)
Vase of flowers with a landscape with a manor house beyond.
Oil on canvas, 120 x 101 cm. Frame: 136 x 116 cm.
Accompanied by a letter dated 9 December 1963 from A.J. Roullet, restorer of paintings for the Musée du Louvre and the Museums of France. “It is a painting of flowers in the style of B. Monnoyer, but which is actually a work by Blain de Fontenay, who was his student and collaborator… …the construction and technique are well executed. The restoration is clean, and the painting as a whole is well preserved and intact. It is the work of a flower painter by profession.
The painting is of good pictorial quality, and is a typical 17th-century French painting of a beautiful composition. Fontenay was pupil of Monnoyer and also his son-in-law. Painter of fruits and flowers, extremely delicate in color and great accuracy of drawing. Among his most remarkable works are the ornamentation of the castles of Fontainebleau, Versailles, and Marly. He also painted for the Manufacture des Gobelins.
Provenance
Acquired from Popoff Antiques, Antiquaires Experts en Objets D’Art, 1er Grand Prix D’Honneur de la Ville De Paris, 86 Rue du Fbg St-Honore Paris, France in1963
Also accompanied with a stamped card from Popoff Antiques, Paris that guarantees the work to be by Blin de Fontenay and a receipt of 1,550$ with date 2 December 1963.
Collection of Lily Venizelos, to support the MEDASSET Organization.