27th Oct, 2010 12:00
Maritime and Scientific Models, Instruments & Art (Audacious)
25
[M] The PROPERTY OF A EUROPEAN COLLECTOR<br/>Renowned...
The PROPERTY OF A EUROPEAN COLLECTOR
Renowned for their exquisitely detailed watercolours, the Roux family practised their art through several generations in an ancient port established at the natural confluence of time hallowed trade routes. After the American Revolution, the remarkable expansion of the United States merchant fleet led not only to strong trade links between the New World and Liverpool (resulting incidentally in Liverpool becoming the chief cotton emporium for the United Kingdom) but also to the former colonies trading directly with continental ports including, of course, Marseilles. Consequently most of today's maritime collections in the United States almost always include a rich variety of pictures by members of the Roux family. There are examples by all members of the Roux family in museums worldwide, including The Peabody Museum of Salem, Le Musée de la Marine, Paris and Le Musée de la Marine, Marseille. Their dynasty was to influence a whole school of maritime painters and their bold, colourful, throbbing images of ships so technically fine in every way, speak for themselves. Subjects cover every aspect of the heyday of maritime trade, as seen in these examples from a private collection assembled over a period of some thirty years.
The Roux Dynasty
Ange Joseph Antoine Roux (1765-1835) or Antoine Roux (pere)
Arguably the most successful of all, he was the father and master of Mathieu Antoine, Frederic and Francois Geoffroi. His work remained superior in quality and was the inspiration to a whole following of aspiring French and Italian marine watercolour painters.
Mathieu-Antoine Roux (1799-1872) or Antoine Roux (fils)
As the eldest son daily exposure to business at the hydrographic shop (for the Roux family's trade was fundamentaly that of hydrography and cartography) as well as work always in progress on some new ship picture, naturally inclined him to follow in the paternal footsteps.
His work is often confused with that of his father's.
Francois Joseph Frederic Roux (1805-1870) or Frederic Roux
By 1822, at the age of seventeen, he was already painting for profit in his father's studio having developed a style that would have been the envy of many an older practitioner. He became an apprentice to Horace Vernet in the 'atelier Vernet' in Paris at a young age and was soon to embrace great success both within the French court and elsewhere, so much so that he decided in 1835 to move to Le Havre where he became a hydrographer and "painter of marines". His watercolours of Le Havre are admired particularly for their high quality and within his own lifetime he was to receive international acclaim.
Francois Geoffroi Roux (1811-1882) or Francois Roux
The youngest of Antoine Roux's sons, Francois was nominated "Peintre officiel de la Marine" in 1876. Working, as he did, for most of his life in the family workshop in Marseilles, his work is similar but, if anything, finished in even greater detail. To say that Francois ultimately came to surpass his father's work would be unfair, but his effortless handling of pigment, maturity of style and incomparable degree of skill give his watercolours a surety of hand capable of executing even the most ambitious works.
FRANÇOIS JOSEPH FREDERIC ROUX (1805-1870)
Trois-Mats "Tuspan"
Signed and inscribed in pencil 'F. Roux' (lower right) and further inscribed on mount 'Frederic Roux - Marseilles / Trois-Mats "Tuspan"'
Image size 8 x 12in. (20.3 x 30.5cm.)
Renowned for their exquisitely detailed watercolours, the Roux family practised their art through several generations in an ancient port established at the natural confluence of time hallowed trade routes. After the American Revolution, the remarkable expansion of the United States merchant fleet led not only to strong trade links between the New World and Liverpool (resulting incidentally in Liverpool becoming the chief cotton emporium for the United Kingdom) but also to the former colonies trading directly with continental ports including, of course, Marseilles. Consequently most of today's maritime collections in the United States almost always include a rich variety of pictures by members of the Roux family. There are examples by all members of the Roux family in museums worldwide, including The Peabody Museum of Salem, Le Musée de la Marine, Paris and Le Musée de la Marine, Marseille. Their dynasty was to influence a whole school of maritime painters and their bold, colourful, throbbing images of ships so technically fine in every way, speak for themselves. Subjects cover every aspect of the heyday of maritime trade, as seen in these examples from a private collection assembled over a period of some thirty years.
The Roux Dynasty
Ange Joseph Antoine Roux (1765-1835) or Antoine Roux (pere)
Arguably the most successful of all, he was the father and master of Mathieu Antoine, Frederic and Francois Geoffroi. His work remained superior in quality and was the inspiration to a whole following of aspiring French and Italian marine watercolour painters.
Mathieu-Antoine Roux (1799-1872) or Antoine Roux (fils)
As the eldest son daily exposure to business at the hydrographic shop (for the Roux family's trade was fundamentaly that of hydrography and cartography) as well as work always in progress on some new ship picture, naturally inclined him to follow in the paternal footsteps.
His work is often confused with that of his father's.
Francois Joseph Frederic Roux (1805-1870) or Frederic Roux
By 1822, at the age of seventeen, he was already painting for profit in his father's studio having developed a style that would have been the envy of many an older practitioner. He became an apprentice to Horace Vernet in the 'atelier Vernet' in Paris at a young age and was soon to embrace great success both within the French court and elsewhere, so much so that he decided in 1835 to move to Le Havre where he became a hydrographer and "painter of marines". His watercolours of Le Havre are admired particularly for their high quality and within his own lifetime he was to receive international acclaim.
Francois Geoffroi Roux (1811-1882) or Francois Roux
The youngest of Antoine Roux's sons, Francois was nominated "Peintre officiel de la Marine" in 1876. Working, as he did, for most of his life in the family workshop in Marseilles, his work is similar but, if anything, finished in even greater detail. To say that Francois ultimately came to surpass his father's work would be unfair, but his effortless handling of pigment, maturity of style and incomparable degree of skill give his watercolours a surety of hand capable of executing even the most ambitious works.
FRANÇOIS JOSEPH FREDERIC ROUX (1805-1870)
Trois-Mats "Tuspan"
Signed and inscribed in pencil 'F. Roux' (lower right) and further inscribed on mount 'Frederic Roux - Marseilles / Trois-Mats "Tuspan"'
Image size 8 x 12in. (20.3 x 30.5cm.)
Sold for £620
Estimated at £500 - £800
(inc. buyer's premium of 24%)
The PROPERTY OF A EUROPEAN COLLECTOR
Renowned for their exquisitely detailed watercolours, the Roux family practised their art through several generations in an ancient port established at the natural confluence of time hallowed trade routes. After the American Revolution, the remarkable expansion of the United States merchant fleet led not only to strong trade links between the New World and Liverpool (resulting incidentally in Liverpool becoming the chief cotton emporium for the United Kingdom) but also to the former colonies trading directly with continental ports including, of course, Marseilles. Consequently most of today's maritime collections in the United States almost always include a rich variety of pictures by members of the Roux family. There are examples by all members of the Roux family in museums worldwide, including The Peabody Museum of Salem, Le Musée de la Marine, Paris and Le Musée de la Marine, Marseille. Their dynasty was to influence a whole school of maritime painters and their bold, colourful, throbbing images of ships so technically fine in every way, speak for themselves. Subjects cover every aspect of the heyday of maritime trade, as seen in these examples from a private collection assembled over a period of some thirty years.
The Roux Dynasty
Ange Joseph Antoine Roux (1765-1835) or Antoine Roux (pere)
Arguably the most successful of all, he was the father and master of Mathieu Antoine, Frederic and Francois Geoffroi. His work remained superior in quality and was the inspiration to a whole following of aspiring French and Italian marine watercolour painters.
Mathieu-Antoine Roux (1799-1872) or Antoine Roux (fils)
As the eldest son daily exposure to business at the hydrographic shop (for the Roux family's trade was fundamentaly that of hydrography and cartography) as well as work always in progress on some new ship picture, naturally inclined him to follow in the paternal footsteps.
His work is often confused with that of his father's.
Francois Joseph Frederic Roux (1805-1870) or Frederic Roux
By 1822, at the age of seventeen, he was already painting for profit in his father's studio having developed a style that would have been the envy of many an older practitioner. He became an apprentice to Horace Vernet in the 'atelier Vernet' in Paris at a young age and was soon to embrace great success both within the French court and elsewhere, so much so that he decided in 1835 to move to Le Havre where he became a hydrographer and "painter of marines". His watercolours of Le Havre are admired particularly for their high quality and within his own lifetime he was to receive international acclaim.
Francois Geoffroi Roux (1811-1882) or Francois Roux
The youngest of Antoine Roux's sons, Francois was nominated "Peintre officiel de la Marine" in 1876. Working, as he did, for most of his life in the family workshop in Marseilles, his work is similar but, if anything, finished in even greater detail. To say that Francois ultimately came to surpass his father's work would be unfair, but his effortless handling of pigment, maturity of style and incomparable degree of skill give his watercolours a surety of hand capable of executing even the most ambitious works.
FRANÇOIS JOSEPH FREDERIC ROUX (1805-1870)
Trois-Mats "Tuspan"
Signed and inscribed in pencil 'F. Roux' (lower right) and further inscribed on mount 'Frederic Roux - Marseilles / Trois-Mats "Tuspan"'
Image size 8 x 12in. (20.3 x 30.5cm.)
Renowned for their exquisitely detailed watercolours, the Roux family practised their art through several generations in an ancient port established at the natural confluence of time hallowed trade routes. After the American Revolution, the remarkable expansion of the United States merchant fleet led not only to strong trade links between the New World and Liverpool (resulting incidentally in Liverpool becoming the chief cotton emporium for the United Kingdom) but also to the former colonies trading directly with continental ports including, of course, Marseilles. Consequently most of today's maritime collections in the United States almost always include a rich variety of pictures by members of the Roux family. There are examples by all members of the Roux family in museums worldwide, including The Peabody Museum of Salem, Le Musée de la Marine, Paris and Le Musée de la Marine, Marseille. Their dynasty was to influence a whole school of maritime painters and their bold, colourful, throbbing images of ships so technically fine in every way, speak for themselves. Subjects cover every aspect of the heyday of maritime trade, as seen in these examples from a private collection assembled over a period of some thirty years.
The Roux Dynasty
Ange Joseph Antoine Roux (1765-1835) or Antoine Roux (pere)
Arguably the most successful of all, he was the father and master of Mathieu Antoine, Frederic and Francois Geoffroi. His work remained superior in quality and was the inspiration to a whole following of aspiring French and Italian marine watercolour painters.
Mathieu-Antoine Roux (1799-1872) or Antoine Roux (fils)
As the eldest son daily exposure to business at the hydrographic shop (for the Roux family's trade was fundamentaly that of hydrography and cartography) as well as work always in progress on some new ship picture, naturally inclined him to follow in the paternal footsteps.
His work is often confused with that of his father's.
Francois Joseph Frederic Roux (1805-1870) or Frederic Roux
By 1822, at the age of seventeen, he was already painting for profit in his father's studio having developed a style that would have been the envy of many an older practitioner. He became an apprentice to Horace Vernet in the 'atelier Vernet' in Paris at a young age and was soon to embrace great success both within the French court and elsewhere, so much so that he decided in 1835 to move to Le Havre where he became a hydrographer and "painter of marines". His watercolours of Le Havre are admired particularly for their high quality and within his own lifetime he was to receive international acclaim.
Francois Geoffroi Roux (1811-1882) or Francois Roux
The youngest of Antoine Roux's sons, Francois was nominated "Peintre officiel de la Marine" in 1876. Working, as he did, for most of his life in the family workshop in Marseilles, his work is similar but, if anything, finished in even greater detail. To say that Francois ultimately came to surpass his father's work would be unfair, but his effortless handling of pigment, maturity of style and incomparable degree of skill give his watercolours a surety of hand capable of executing even the most ambitious works.
FRANÇOIS JOSEPH FREDERIC ROUX (1805-1870)
Trois-Mats "Tuspan"
Signed and inscribed in pencil 'F. Roux' (lower right) and further inscribed on mount 'Frederic Roux - Marseilles / Trois-Mats "Tuspan"'
Image size 8 x 12in. (20.3 x 30.5cm.)
Auction: Maritime and Scientific Models, Instruments & Art (Audacious), 27th Oct, 2010
