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拍品专文
This vigorous sketch is a rare compositional study in oils for one of Oudry's final masterpieces, the great Wolf Hunt of 1746 (Musée de la Chasse à tir et de la Fauconnerie, Gien), a vast and dramatic canvas ordered by Lenorment de Tournehem, the surveyor of the king's buildings, for installation in the dining room of Louis XV's apartments at the royal hunting lodge at La Muette, where it remained until the Revolution. As this was a royal commission from its inception, the present oil sketch would have been painted by order of the king as the first stage in the process leading to the final composition, as noted by Hal Opperman (in correspondence, 7 May 2007).
According to Opperman, this is the only such work known to him that is 'an oil sketch that develops the compositional idea for one of Oudry's large hunt subjects. It is unique in the way it reveals the artist's imagination at work in the context of a prestigious commission.' He further observes that 'despite the absence of earlier documentation I have no reason to believe it is anything but an authentic autograph work by Oudry.' X-ray examinations of the sketch made in 2007 reveal significant changes made in the sketch as Oudry developed his final composition.
The subject of this particular hunt is out of the ordinary in that it depicts an actual wolf, of monstrous size, that had been taken by the king and his hunting party near Versailles. The four dogs of the royal pack shown surrounding the wolf belonged to Louis XV and were painted from life; they were described in the livret of the Paris Salon of 1746 (no. 41) as including two greyhounds from Ireland and two long-haired dogs from the Kingdom of Naples.
A finished drawing on blue paper by Oudry, signed and dated 1746, depicts the principal group in the painting; it was in the collection of Paignon-Dijonval, but its present whereabouts are unknown.
According to Opperman, this is the only such work known to him that is 'an oil sketch that develops the compositional idea for one of Oudry's large hunt subjects. It is unique in the way it reveals the artist's imagination at work in the context of a prestigious commission.' He further observes that 'despite the absence of earlier documentation I have no reason to believe it is anything but an authentic autograph work by Oudry.' X-ray examinations of the sketch made in 2007 reveal significant changes made in the sketch as Oudry developed his final composition.
The subject of this particular hunt is out of the ordinary in that it depicts an actual wolf, of monstrous size, that had been taken by the king and his hunting party near Versailles. The four dogs of the royal pack shown surrounding the wolf belonged to Louis XV and were painted from life; they were described in the livret of the Paris Salon of 1746 (no. 41) as including two greyhounds from Ireland and two long-haired dogs from the Kingdom of Naples.
A finished drawing on blue paper by Oudry, signed and dated 1746, depicts the principal group in the painting; it was in the collection of Paignon-Dijonval, but its present whereabouts are unknown.