Skip to main content
Video Loading
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 16

Francois Grenier de Saint Martin
Francois Grenier de Saint Martin (1793-1867) Lady on the beach, 1829, watercolor

1829

About the Item

Francois Grenier de Saint Martin (1793-1867) A Young Lady on the beach, 1829, signed and dated on the lower left watercolor on paper 17 x 19.5 cm Framed 30 x 32.3 cm In many ways, this delicate watercolor is archetypal of Romantic art: the restranscription of a presumably violent emotion in a natural setting, where the young woman frees herself from convention - her hat falling to the right is seen as an important, symbolically-charged detail. In the early 19th century, watercolor became the medium of choice for Romantic art. Less ponderous, less solemn than oil on canvas, watercolor's lightness and intimacy lent it to this art of emotion and passion, where the encounter with nature was central. English art played a pioneering role in the adoption of watercolor as a noble technique and an art form in its own right (no longer reserved for study drawings), and we can clearly see the influence of English art in this work by Grenier de Saint Martin. François (or Francisque-Martin) Grenier de Saint-Martin was born in Paris in 1793. He was the son of a former colonist of Saint-Domingue. He first trained with Guérin, who made him make such rapid progress that he began to exhibit at the Salon at a very young age, with an Atala in 1810 for which he received a medal; he was then a pupil of Jacques-Louis David. After producing portraits and battles at the start of his career, he then specialized in picturesque genre scenes: representations of sailors on land, peasant and hunting scenes… the latter making him very popular thanks to their dissemination through lithography. Although an admirer of Napoleon, he obtained the favors of the Bourbons, and in particular of the Duchess of Berry who owned several of his works. He then received orders from Louis-Philippe for the Galerie des Batailles de Versailles, was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1841, and Napoleon III bought hunting pictures from him at the Salon of 1857. His two sons Henri and Yves were also painters and exhibited at the Salon from 1857.
  • Creator:
    Francois Grenier de Saint Martin (1793 - 1867, French)
  • Creation Year:
    1829
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 6.7 in (17 cm)Width: 7.68 in (19.5 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Paris, FR
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: Inv 6411stDibs: LU1112213047762

More From This Seller

View All
Jules-Eugène Lenepveu (1819-1898) Portrait of a man in profile, signed drawing
Located in Paris, FR
Jules-Eugène Lenepveu (1819-1898) Portrait of a man in profile signed on the lower right Pencil and heightenings of white gouache on paper 19.5 x 13 cm Framed : 29 x 22.7 cm Jules-Eugène Lenepveu is of course particularly well known for his large-scale paintings, such as the one on the ceiling of the Paris Opera, but his work here is much more delicate and intimate. We recognise the artist's mastery of talent, but the play of textures, with its highlights of white that enliven and illuminate the model's face, is also very subtle. There's a particularly charming sense of life and impression of light. Jules-Eugène Lenepveu was born in Angers on 12 December 1819, on the site of the street that now bears his name, into a family of small shopkeepers. The painter showed a deep attachment to his family throughout his life through his correspondence and the many portraits of his relatives. He entered the drawing school in Angers in 1833, where he was a pupil of Jean-Michel Mercier. There he rubbed shoulders with the sculptor Ferdinand Taluet. He arrived in Paris in 1837 and entered the Beaux-Arts, where he was officially admitted to François-Édouard Picot's studio in 1838. He exhibited his work "L'Idylle" at the Salon of 1843 and, that same year, left for his first visit to Italy. He was awarded the Second Prix de Rome in 1843 for "Cincinnatus recevant les députés du Sénat" (Cincinnatus receiving the deputies of the Senate), then the First Prize in 1847 for "La Mort de Vitellius" (The Death of Vitellius). A resident at the Villa Médicis from 1848, he was surrounded by painters Alexandre Cabanel, Léon Benouville, Gustave Boulanger, Félix Barrias...
Category

1860s Romantic Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache, Pencil

Denis Auguste Raffet (1804-1860) Studies of characters, drawing and watercolor
By Denis Auguste Marie Raffet
Located in Paris, FR
Denis Auguste Raffet (1804-1860) Studies of characters Black pencil and watercolor on paper 18.5 x 25.5 cm Stamp of the Raffet Estate Sale (1911) on the lower right In good condition, foxings on the original mount Framed 34 x 40 cm Denis Auguste Marie Raffet (2 March 1804 – 16 February 1860) was a French illustrator and lithographer. He was a student of Nicolas Toussaint Charlet, and was a retrospective painter of the Empire. At an early age he was apprenticed to a wood turner, but took up the study of art at evening classes. At the age of 18 he entered the workshop of Cabanel, where he applied his skill to the decoration of china, and where he met Rudor, from whom he received instruction in lithography, in the practice of which he was to rise to fame. He then entered the École des Beaux-Arts, but returned to lithography in 1830 when he produced on stone his famous designs of Lützen, Waterloo, Le bal, La revue, and Les adieux de la garrison, by which his reputation became immediately established.[ Raffet's chief works were his lithographs of the Napoleonic campaigns, from Egypt to Waterloo, vigorous designs inspired by ardent patriotic enthusiasm. In this endeavor he was a contemporary of other French artist-lithographers of Napoleon and the French army including Hippolyte Bellangé, Horace Vernet, and Nicolas Toussaint Charlet. As an illustrator his activity was prodigious, the list of works illustrated by his crayon amounting to about forty-five, among which are Béranger's poems, the History of the Revolution by Adolphe Thiers, the History of Napoleon by de Norvins, the great Walter Scott by Auguste Defauconpret, the French Plutarch and Frédéric Bérat's Songs. He went to Rome in 1849, and was present at the siege of Rome, which he made the subject of some lithographs, and followed the Italian campaign of 1859, of which he left a record in his Episodes de la campagne d'Italie de 1859. His portraits in pencil...
Category

1850s Romantic Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Watercolor

French School 19th Century, Portrait of a dandy, watercolor on paper
Located in Paris, FR
French School 19th Century, Portrait of a dandy, watercolor on paper 19 x 13 cm Signed (?) with pencil lower right "L ... " illegible Framed : 29 x 23 cm
Category

1880s Romantic Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

French school 19th century, An italian bandit, 1864, watercolor
Located in Paris, FR
French school 19th century, An italian bandit, 1864, watercolor on paper On the reverse of the sheet (now under the back of the frame) an annotation, "Rome 1864" 25,5 x 21.5 cm (v...
Category

1860s Romantic Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Attributed to Eugène Devéria (1805-1865) La famille heureuse, watercolor
By Eugene Deveria
Located in Paris, FR
Attribuetd to Eugène Devéria (1805-1865) La Famille heureuse (The Happy Family) Watercolor on paper 23 x 18 cm In quite good condition : a small tear i...
Category

1840s Romantic Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Louis Gallait (1810-1887) Portrait of a Gentleman, watercolor and gouache
By Louis Gallait
Located in Paris, FR
Louis Gallait (1810-1887) Portrait of a Gentleman, Watercolor and gouache on paper, square white lines, 24 x 16 cm Stamp of the Louis Gallait Estate on the mount on the lower righ...
Category

1850s Romantic Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache

You May Also Like

Romantic Couple In Wartime Paris on Rainy Parisian Night
Located in Miami, FL
The technique and subject matter work well together in this loosely but masterfully rendered World War 1 romantic illustration of a Soldier and a Parisian woman. Even though this wo...
Category

1930s Romantic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Watercolor, Pencil

Follower of Francis Wheatley, 19th century portrait of young maiden with flowers
By Francis Wheatley
Located in Harkstead, GB
A really charming, early 19th century portrait of a young maiden carrying a basket of flowers. The face is beautifully painted with a slight blush to her cheeks and striking touches ...
Category

Early 19th Century Romantic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil, Paper, Watercolor

Hand-Me-Downs - Street Children - Waif - Cockney Gutter Imps.
Located in Miami, FL
19th Century Street Art - British children's book author and illustrator Edith Farmiloe depicts a waif-like girl - Cockney Gutter Imp - who is disheveled. The artist draws her i...
Category

Early 1900s Romantic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pen, Ink

Young Lady With Coiffure - Ellsworth Woodward Antique Graphite Drawing
By Ellsworth Woodward
Located in New Orleans, LA
Many of you clicking on this drawing are probably doing so because you know of Ellsworth Woodward, who with his brother William Woodward around the turn of the 20th century sparked an arts renaissance in the South, the arts and culture in general having been mostly moribund since the dispiriting defeat experienced in the Civil War. I won't bog you down with lots of detail here since all you have to do is Google his name to bring up a wealth of information about him. He is most famous for his leadership of the arts program at Newcomb College in New Orleans, and its famous Newcomb Pottery...
Category

1890s Romantic Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Graphite

Seated Young Lady (by leader of "Southern Art Renaissance") - Antique Drawing
By Ellsworth Woodward
Located in New Orleans, LA
Many of you clicking on this pen-and-ink of a pretty Edwardian-era lady are probably doing so because you know of Ellsworth Woodward, who with his brother William Woodward around the...
Category

1890s Romantic Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

The Violinist (Antique Ellsworth Woodward Figurative Graphite Sketch Drawing)
By Ellsworth Woodward
Located in New Orleans, LA
Many of you clicking on this are probably doing so because you know of Ellsworth Woodward, who with his brother William Woodward around the turn of the 20th century sparked an arts renaissance in the South, the arts and culture in general having been mostly moribund since the dispiriting defeat experienced in the Civil War. I won't bog you down with lots of detail here since all you have to do is Google his name to bring up a wealth of information about him. He is most famous for his leadership of the arts program at Newcomb College in New Orleans, and its famous Newcomb Pottery...
Category

1890s Romantic Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Graphite

Recently Viewed

View All