Thomas COUTURE (Senlis 1815 1879 Villiers-le-Bel) [FRANCE] a - Lot 1

Thomas COUTURE (Senlis 1815 1879 Villiers-le-Bel) [FRANCE] and studio Study of a woman for "The Romans of Decadence", 1847 Oil on canvas. 61 x 50 cm Les Romains de la Décadence (ill. 1) is undoubtedly Thomas Couture's masterpiece. Exhibited at the Salon of 1847, this immense canvas earned the painter a first-class medal, and its purchase by the French state brought him fame. Critics of the time saw it as a synthesis of academic art and the Romantic movement, a synthesis already present in Couture's masters Gros and Delaroche. Depicting a scene of Roman-style debauchery, the painting features various characters getting drunk, dancing frenetically or engaging in indecent activities, all set against a backdrop of ancient architecture. Although the subject may seem licentious, Couture includes in his composition three moral guardians who are not taking part in the event - the "artist" on the left and the "philosophers" on the right. In so doing, he denounces the decadence of France under the reign of Louis-Philippe. Les Romains de la Décadence took three years to complete. It would therefore be expected that such a project would have numerous sketches. However, we know of very few preparatory works for this masterpiece. The artist's daughter states that "almost all the original studies for the Romans were taken from the painter by visitors", probably because of the painting's fame. On the one hand, there is a drawing (ill. 2) and a sketch (ill. 3) of the general composition, considered to be autograph, and on the other, a number of figure studies, the most notable of which depict "the artist" (ill. 4), the two "philosophers" (ill. 5) and one of the debauchees (ill. 6). Our painting is part of this series of studies. The complete study can be consulted in the digital catalog: www.hubertduchemin.com Presented by Mr. Hubert Duchemin ( 01 42 60 83 01).