Maîtres du dessin européen du XVIe au XXe siècle. La collection Georges Pébereau

1. Francesco Vanni (1562-1610)
The forgivness of Francis of Assisi
Oil on maroufled paper on canvas - 28.1 x 18.5 cm
Paris, Georges Pébereau’s collection
Photo: Musée du Louvre

Should private collections be exhibited at the Louvre? The answer is certainly yes when they are of museum quality. This was the case for the Louis-Antoine Prat and also the des Motais from Narbonne which will be shown in the spring [1].

Can one say the same for the Georges Péberau collection? Pierre Rosenberg has said that a good collector needs time, money and knowledge. We would add, and good taste. Georges Pébereau undoubtedly has money. But it is not enough to accumulate great names – Castiglione (ill. 17), Poussin, Le Brun, Watteau, Boucher, G.B. Tiepolo, Greuze, Prud’hon, Corot, Toulouse-Lautrec, Seurat, Cézanne, Carpeaux–with no attention to quality.
We should, however, be fair and indeed acknowledge that some sheets are of a very high level: the Francesco Vanni (ill. 1) acquired at the Salon du Dessin 2009 and which we had spoken about at the time, is a masterpiece, as well as the Fragonard, the David from the Saint-Laurent/Bergé auction (ill. 2), the Girodet, the Géricault, the Delacroix watercolour of Paolo and Francesca (ill. 3), the Portrait of Oscar de Ronchicourt by Chasseriau, the large Puvis de Chavannes and the Carlos Schwabe…Perhaps a fourth of the eighty-three drawings exhibited here are worthy of the Louvre. Unfortunately, these were not the ones which were donated.

2. Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825)
Portrait of an unknown, called of Saint-Estève
Graphite, pen and black ink,
brown wash eheightened with white-D. 18 cm
Paris, Georges Pébereau’s collection
Photo: Christie’s

3. Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863)
Paolo and Francesca
Watercolour-28.5 x 21.5 cm
Paris, Georges Pébereau’s collection
Photo: Musée du Louvre

An unwritten rule states that collectors, as thanks to the museum for exhibiting their collection, should make a donation. Georges Pébereau’s hangs with great pomp in one of the rooms, and is hard to ignore as it is written in very large letters above each sheet. The donation is made as a “promised gift”, not by the collector as the signs and catalogue mislead visitors to believe by a simple omission, but rather by his granddaughter! These eight works will probably not join the Louvre–at least we sincerely hope so for this young lady–for another seventy years. To be frank however, the museum will not be missing much [2]. Without dwelling on the one attributed to Castiglione (ill. 17) nor on that by Honthorst (ill. 18) which is interesting uniquely due to its rareness, only the Last Supper by Simon Vouet (ill. 4) and perhaps the Boilly (ill. 20) are sheets which future generations will feel fortunate to have in their holdings. Given the added value which this exhibition will now provide the collection, does the Louvre really need to thank Georges Péberau, or should it not be in fact the other way around?

4. Simon Vouet (1590-1649)
Last Supper
Red chalk, brush, beige wash-
20.8 x 18.7 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre
(promised-gift
Georges Pébereau’s granddaughter)
Photo: Musée du Louvre

5. Friedrich Overbeck (1789-1869)
Virgin and Child with two Angels
Graphite,grey wash- 45.6 x 46.2 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre
Photo: Musée du Louvre

The hang is also an opportunity for the museum to display for the first time some of the drawings acquired in 2008 and 2009 through “payment in kind”, that is for purposes of tax deduction. When the collector distances himself from the requisite old masters in order to better explore the field of 19th century German drawing, an unexpected path, his choices become much more discerning [3]. The Friedrich Overbeck (ill. 5), a very beautiful and perfectly characteristic work of this artist as are the two portraits by, respectively, Johann Gottfried Schadow and Wilhelm von Schadow (ill. 7 and 8), all fine examples of German Nazarene art which is poorly represented in France. Indeed, how unfortunate that the other sheets from this collection which joined the museum through payment in kind have not been included in the exhibition.

We would like to conclude this article by listing the works in the Pébereau collection which were acquired through payment in kind as well as those donated as a promised gift by his granddaughter.

 Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, The corvette Najaden’s deck (ill. 6)

6. Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg (1783-1853)
The corvette Najaden’s deck
Balck pencil, pen, ink and grey wash- 21.5 x 19 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre
Photo: Musée du Louvre

 Johann Gottfried Schadow, Portrait of Charlotte Susanna Juliane Schadow (ill. 7)

7. Johann Gottfried Schadow (1764-1850)
Portrait of Charlotte Susanna Juliane Schadow
Black chalk,heightened with white- 33.5 x 27.6 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre
Photo: Musée du Louvre

 Wilhelm von Schadow, Portrait of Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schadow (ill. 8)

8. Wilhelm von Schadow (1788-1862)
Portrait of Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schadow
Black chalk, heightened with white- 32.2 x 27 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre
Photo: Musée du Louvre

 Friedrich Overbeck, The Virgin and Child with two angels (ill. 5) and The Christ with children (not exposed, ill. 9)

9. Friedrich Overbeck (1789-1869)
Christ with Children
Black chalk- 45 x 33 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre
Photo: Musée du Louvre

 Johann Christian Reinhart, Study of two trees (ill. 10)

10. Johann Christian Reinhart (1761-1847)
Stufy of two trees
Black chalk- 63 x 48,2 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre
Photo: Musée du Louvre

 Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Apostle standing in right profile (not exposed, ill. 11)

11. Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1794-1872)
Apostle standing in right profile
Black pencil, grey ink, plen- 37.5 x 22.2 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre
Photo: Musée du Louvre

 Adolph von Menzel, Study for a drapery (not exposed, ill. 12)

12. Adolph von Menzel (1815-1905)
Study of a drapery
Black chalk-20.7 x 12.8 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre
Photo: RMN

 Louis Janmot (1814-1892), Scene from the Soul’s Ode (not exposed, ill. 13)

13. Louis Janmot (1814-1892)
Scene from the Soul’s Ode, 1850-1854
Black chalk -114 x 130 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre
Photo: RMN

 Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Study for the Turkish Bath (ill. 14)

14. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867)
Study for the Turkish Bath
Pen and brown ink- 15.9 x 10.6 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre
Photo: Musée du Louvre

Promised gift by his granddaughter:

 Lorenzo Costa, Study for a triomphal char followed by a cortege of jorsemen in a Landscape (ill. 15)

15. Lorenzo Costa (1460-1535)
Study for a triomphal char followed by a cortege of jorsemen in a Landscape
Pen and brown ink- 16.8 x 26.2 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre (promised-gift by Georges Pébereau’s granddaughter)
Photo: Musée du Louvre

 Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, A winged Goddess and others figures on a cloud (ill. 16)

16. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770)
A winged Goddess and others figures on a cloud
Pen and brown ink, braown wash and black chalk-29.3 x 21 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre (promised gift by
de Georges Pébereau’s granddaughter)
Photo: Musée du Louvre

 Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, Pastoral Scene (ill. 17)

17. Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (1609-1664)
Pastoral Scene
Brush, red and green oil-40.5 x 52.5 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre (promised-gift by Georges Pébereau’s granddaughter)
Photo: Musée du Louvre

 Gerrit van Honthorst, Solomon Sacrificing to the Idols (ill. 18)

18. Gerrit van Honthorst (1590-1656)
Solomon Sacrificing to the Idols
Pen and brown ink, grey wash,
heightened with white-30.9 x 42.4 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre (promised gift by Georges Pébereau’s granddaughter)
Photo: Musée du Louvre

 Pierre Brébiette, Junon, Minerve and Venus on the mount Helicon with the Muses as musicians (ill. 19)

19. Pierre Brébiette (1598-c. 1650)
Minerve and Venus on the mount Helicon with the Muses as musicians
Red chalk- 26.3 x 42.2 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre (promised gift by Georges Pébereau’s granddaughter)
Photo: Musée du Louvre

 Simon Vouet, The Last Supper (ill. 4)

 Louis-Léopold Boilly, Young woman grinding coffee (ill. 20)

20. Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761-1845)
Young woman grinding coffee
Black and white - 49.9 x 39.5 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre (promisd gift by Georges Pébereau’s granddaughter)
Photo: Musée du Louvre

 Victor Hugo, Landscape Paysage with bridge near Salm, the castle lat the bottom (ill. 21)

21. Victor Hugo (1802-1885)
Landscape Paysage with bridge near Salm, the castle lat the bottom
Pen, brown ink, brown wash,
heightened with watercolor-14.5 x 25.7 cm
Paris, Musée du Louvre (promised gift by Georges Pébereau’s granddaughter)
Photo: Musée du Louvre

The excellent catalogue is published by Somogy. Several art historians have responded to the request for entries, each in a different specialization. Some will find it amusing to note that the text on Géricault was written by Tribulat Bonhomet, a character created by Villiers de L’Isle-Adam. Whose name is concealed behind this pseudonym? The style of the article would lead us to think of a curator at the Louvre who has already written on this artist…

Under the supervision of Dominique Cordellier, Louis-Antoine Prat and Carel van Tuyll van Serooskerken, Maîtres du dessin européen du XVIe au XXe siècle. La collection Georges Pébereau, Somogy Editions d’Art ; 232 p., 35€. ISBN: 9782757203026.