Aubert-Joseph PARENT (1753-1835)
Bas Relief of a Rose Branch with Bird and Insect
Carved lindenwood, 7½ x 11 in. (18.5 x 29.3 cm), signed in lead: aubert parent fecit 1827.
In a contemporary glazed wood frame
Aubert-Joseph Parent developed an exclusive specialty of carved wood pictures: 'still lives' incorporating flowers, birds, and occasionally insects, with astonishingly detailed realism. His career was launched in 1777 by his presentation of a panel to Louis XVI at the centennial of his native town of Valenciennes. The King so admired the work that he hung it in his private dining room in Versailles.
Parent exhibited in the Paris Salon de la Correspondance, 1779-1783, winning patronage from court circles. In 1784 he won a royal stipend for study in Italy which culminated four years later in the publication of an important series of neo-classical ornament designs. During the Revolution he fled to Switzerland where he lectured on classical art at university in Basel and directed archeological excavations in the region. In 1797 he moved to Berlin where he received a pension from Friedrich Wilhelm II, King of Prussia. After publishing his engraved Antiquites de la Suisse he returned to Switzerland, and finally in 1813 political events allowed him to go home. The last decades of his life in Valenciennes were filled with teaching and directing excavations, but he never gave up carving and exhibiting his work.
Few carvings are known from Parent's later years, and the present panel represents a precious survival. Earlier works figure in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Getty Museum, Musée des Beaux Arts, Valencienes, and the Liebieghaus, Frankfurt.
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Price on Request
Inquiries: mail@mobysnewt.com
Bas Relief of a Rose Branch with Bird and Insect
Carved lindenwood, 7½ x 11 in. (18.5 x 29.3 cm), signed in lead: aubert parent fecit 1827.
In a contemporary glazed wood frame
Aubert-Joseph Parent developed an exclusive specialty of carved wood pictures: 'still lives' incorporating flowers, birds, and occasionally insects, with astonishingly detailed realism. His career was launched in 1777 by his presentation of a panel to Louis XVI at the centennial of his native town of Valenciennes. The King so admired the work that he hung it in his private dining room in Versailles.
Parent exhibited in the Paris Salon de la Correspondance, 1779-1783, winning patronage from court circles. In 1784 he won a royal stipend for study in Italy which culminated four years later in the publication of an important series of neo-classical ornament designs. During the Revolution he fled to Switzerland where he lectured on classical art at university in Basel and directed archeological excavations in the region. In 1797 he moved to Berlin where he received a pension from Friedrich Wilhelm II, King of Prussia. After publishing his engraved Antiquites de la Suisse he returned to Switzerland, and finally in 1813 political events allowed him to go home. The last decades of his life in Valenciennes were filled with teaching and directing excavations, but he never gave up carving and exhibiting his work.
Few carvings are known from Parent's later years, and the present panel represents a precious survival. Earlier works figure in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Getty Museum, Musée des Beaux Arts, Valencienes, and the Liebieghaus, Frankfurt.
View more images of this item
Price on Request
Inquiries: mail@mobysnewt.com