Hubert Robert (1733-1808) Stair and Fountain in the Park of a Roman Villa, red chalk

Lot description

Hubert Robert (1733-1808) Stair and Fountain in the Park of a Roman Villa Red chalk, circa 1775, on fine laid paper without watermark, sheet 365 x 485 mm (14 ¼ x 19 in), expert repairs to old splits and losses within the sheet, the sheet lightly toned and somewhat brittle, fine cracking and minor loss to centre right (framed) Provenance: Estate of Professor Joseph Rykwert (British architectural historian and writer, 1926-2024); Thence by descent to present owner; Private collection, London. Literature: cf. Delteil, Léo, Les Dessins d’Honoré Fragonard et de Hubert Robert des Bibliothéque et Musée de Besancon (collection de P.-A. Paris, architecte du roi, 1745-1819), 1926, no. 59, illus. pl. LIX [for the counter proof drawing] cf. Grasselli, Margaret Morgan, Hubert Robert, 2016, cat. No. 71, p. 238 [for the painting] ⁂ A recently rediscovered drawing by Robert, previously known only by a counterproof held in the Musée de Besancon. The drawing is a preliminary work relating to the large scale oil painting of the same subject held in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. While the view is probably a capriccio, it was likely inspired by Robert's time in Italy, notably the villas and parks that he would have visited with artists such as Fragonard and Abbé de Saint-Non.