2023-05-12 16:34:00
The Ingres-Bourdelle museum won for nearly 200,000 euros a painting by the Montalban master, during an auction at the Hôtel Drouot, in Paris. The last acquisition of a canvas by Ingres by the town of Montauban dates back to 1990.
“The Condottiere”. This is the title of the work by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780-1867) that visitors to the Ingres-Bourdelle Museum (MIB) can now admire in Montauban. Brigitte Barèges, mayor of Montauban and Florence Viguier-Dutheil, curator officially presented it, this Friday, May 12, to the press.
The work, an oil on canvas (53.5 x 41 cm) from 1821, which evokes a leader of a mercenary army who is then found in “The Entry into Paris of the Dauphin, Future Charles V”, has was acquired on March 21 for 198,400 euros, a relatively modest price for a painting by Ingres, at an auction at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris.
The municipality did not intend to exceed an envelope of 300,000 euros to acquire the painting. Estimated between 120,000 and 150,000 euros, the painting was sold for 157,000 euros, or 198,400 euros, if we add the costs of the sale.
“This was not a work for billionaires…”
According to the director of the MIB, the good deal can be explained. “Le Condottière” which was however the nugget of a sale of the Talabardon & Gautier gallery was not “in conformity with the works that we know of Ingres. This is not his usual style. Ingres is known worldwide for his nudes and his portraits. We know, for example, that Madame Gonse’s painting might easily fetch 30 to 40 million euros on the art market. But this painting that we have just acquired did not interest the Chinese, Russian buyers, and the American oil magnates who are raising the stakes to delirious levels. It was not a work for billionaires, fortunately for us, ”said the director.
From now on, Florence Viguier-Dutheil estimates that this new acquisition will advantageously complete the collections of paintings and drawings by Ingres (45 paintings, 4,500 drawings and the violin). The museum thus offers itself a 45th painting by Ingres, which remains “exceptional”, according to the specialist. “We have here a serious, bearded man in armor… who shows us another aspect of Ingres’ work, his troubadour period. It is an unusual, astonishing painting… which was made in Florence (Italy) when Ingres was preparing his other painting on The Vow of Louis XIII. »
For Brigitte Barèges, there is also no question of leaving the heritage of Montauban frozen in its long and rich history. The municipal will is on the contrary to enrich it and make it evolve. Especially concerning the MIB collections: “We are very proud to have succeeded in winning this painting by Ingres. There had been no acquisition by the city of a painting by the painter since 1990. The operation promised to be all the more delicate to carry out, as very few paintings by Ingres were on the market. Each painting is a rarity. »
As part of this acquisition, the municipality will seek aid from the Occitanie Region and the State.
Arrived at the MIB for a fortnight, the work will remain hung until May 24 on the walls of the first room of the museum following the entrance. “This is the room reserved for the museum’s new acquisitions. The painting will then join the first floor of the museum and will thus find its place among all the other masterpieces by Ingres”, explains the director.
1683911093
#VIDEO #Montauban #museum #offers #45th #painting #Ingres #proud
