CHIPART
(Paris 1774 - Copenhagen(?) c.1825)
Fishermen by the Ruins of an Aqueduct, possibly the Aqua Anio Vetus
Sold
Gouache.
Laid down on an old mount.
Inscribed Chipard. del. Copenhague. at the lower left of the mount.
484 x 376 mm. (19 x 14 3/4 in.)
Laid down on an old mount.
Inscribed Chipard. del. Copenhague. at the lower left of the mount.
484 x 376 mm. (19 x 14 3/4 in.)
Although it is impossible to determine the exact location of the ruins depicted in the present sheet, it is likely to be the Anio Vetus aqueduct, which lies on the road to Tivoli. Built between 272 and 269 BC, the Anio Vetus was the second aqueduct of Rome.
A stylistically comparable gouache landscape by Chipart, depicting the cascade in the vaults of the Villa of Maecanas at Tivoli, is also with Stephen Ongpin Fine Art. The existence of two large views of sites in or near Tivoli by Chipart would suggest that the artist may have visited the area during his travels.
The present sheet was formerly in the collection of the Danish lawyer, administrator and art collector Benjamin Larsen Wolff (1790-1866).
A stylistically comparable gouache landscape by Chipart, depicting the cascade in the vaults of the Villa of Maecanas at Tivoli, is also with Stephen Ongpin Fine Art. The existence of two large views of sites in or near Tivoli by Chipart would suggest that the artist may have visited the area during his travels.
The present sheet was formerly in the collection of the Danish lawyer, administrator and art collector Benjamin Larsen Wolff (1790-1866).
Born in Paris in 1774, very little is known about the life and work of French artist Chipart, including his first name, and he remains a mysterious figure today. He seems to have worked outside France for most of his career, and was in particular active for several years as a scenographer, costume designer and painter of theatrical scenery at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, between c.1794 and c.1825. Chipart also appears to have travelled through Russia, Sweden, England and Germany, where he is thought to have lived for some time in Hamburg. Three gouache landscape drawings by Chipart, one of which is dated 1801, are today in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, while another example, a Landscape with Ruins, is in the Nasjonalmuseet in Oslo.
Provenance
Benjamin Wolff, Engelholm, Denmark (Lugt 420)
Thence by descent.
Thence by descent.
