(Champigneulles 1661–1743 Paris)
A pheasant and a grey partridge, figs and a painted Imari bowl with apricots on a stone ledge; and
Sandpipers and partridges, a basket with peaches and plums, beside apricots on a stone ledge,
oil on canvas, each 101.5 x 81.5 cm, framed, a pair (2)

Provenance:
Private European collection

The present compositions relate to a signed pair of paintings by Alexandre-François Desportes in the Galleria Sabauda, Turin (inv. nos. 474, 495).

The present pair of rich still lifes of fruit and game relate to the compositions of the two canvases of similar size, commissioned in 1727 from Alexandre-François Desportes by Victor Amadeus II of Savoy to decorate the castle of Rivoli. A few years later, the Rivoli paintings were transferred to the Royal Palace of Turin by Charles Emmanuel III and later, in the 19th century, they were placed in Palazzo Madama. Today they are part of the collections of the Galleria Sabauda (inv. nos. 474, 495; the paintings measure 100 x 75 cm).

Victor Amadeus II’s choice of painter testifies the extent to which the taste for large and spectacular still life settings had spread across the border from France, into the other European courts. Desportes was considered a true specialist in this genre. Earlier in his career, he had worked for Louis XIV, painting portraits of royal dogs and hunting subjects. From the Regency period onwards, Desportes established himself as a still life painter, capable of achieving extraordinary decorative effects by depicting flowers, fruit and animals as well as precious furnishings, tapestries and sculptures and exploiting their material and chromatic qualities. His great skill in faithfully reproducing nature and its elements is also evidenced by the existence of numerous landscapes painted en plein air, which the artist kept in his studio throughout his life. His hunting scenes and his depictions of animals and plants also derive from a practice of careful study from life, as evidenced by his sketchbooks.

Unlike their Dutch predecessors, this pair of still life paintings celebrate beauty and opulence, without being overshadowed by symbolism, works such as these were therefore much in demand by sovereigns and their courts. In Paris, Desportes’ work was commissioned not only by Louis XIV, but also by other important collectors such as Philip II d’Orléans and the Duc d’Antin, Superintendent of the Bâtiments du Roi. Given the Turin provenance of the paintings presented here, it is possible that they were ordered by a member of the Savoy court to emulate the choices of Victor Amadeus II: This emulation was a common and documented practice which also occurred for portrait cycles, or series of allegorical works.