Aaron Anderson
Specialist, Head of Sale
Lot 18
Louis Eugène Ginain(1818-1886)Maneuvers of the French army at Camp de Châlons 39 x 74 1/2in (99 x 189.2cm)
20 November 2019, 13:00 EST
New YorkSold for US$27,575 inc. premium
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Louis Eugène Ginain (1818-1886)
Maneuvers of the French army at Camp de Châlons
signed and dated 'EUG. GINAIN. 1858.' (lower right)
oil on canvas
39 x 74 1/2in (99 x 189.2cm)
signed and dated 'EUG. GINAIN. 1858.' (lower right)
oil on canvas
39 x 74 1/2in (99 x 189.2cm)
Footnotes
Provenance
Galerie Resche, Paris;
Mrs. Walls, London;
Sale, Sotheby's, London, 19th Century European Paintings, Drawings and Watercolours, 18 March 1992, lot 97;
Acquired from the above by the present owner.
Louis Eugène Ginain became mainly known for his panoramic views of the French army engaged in battles for the conquest of Algeria under the Duke of Orlèans. He joined the Duke in 1840 as official painter to that year's campaign.
In 1846 he followed to Spain the Duke of Montpensier, who married the Infanta Luisa Fernanda that same year. During this assignment, Ginain painted the local countryside and inhabitants but also important events for the royal family, such as The baptism of the Infanta Isabella.
After returning to France, Ginain continued painting Napoleon's army and created his most famous and recognizable work, the monumental The triumphal return to Paris of the armee d'Italie, 14 August 1859, currently hanging in the Palace of Versailles, along two other monumental depictions of the French Army in review.
In the present painting, Ginain has painted the French army at maneuvers on the Camp de Châlons, an area of more than 10,000 hectares that was designated by Napoleon III as training ground where the infantry could advance with the cavalry and the artillery's fire power. The Imperial Guard, created in 1854, was an army corps composed of two infantry divisions and one cavalry division formed after the Crimean war. It is likely that Ginain has chosen to depict this group, as the officers are wearing medals awarded in 1856 to participants of the Crimean war.
The yearly Châlons maneuvers have been the subject of several large format paintings by Ginain, one of which now hangs in the Châlons Museum of Fine Arts and Archaeology.