Discovered during an inventory in an apartment, the canvas of Lubin Baugin joins an extremely limited corpus since only four other still lifes of the painter are known. It will be auctioned in Vichy on Saturday August 16.
Its sale promises to attract passionate and curious. Saturday August 16, Vichy Enchères will put an exceptional picture as a set: Still life to financiersan oil on wood painted around 1630 by Lubin Baugin (1612-1663), known in particular for its two still lifes exhibited at the Louvre. The work is estimated between 200,000 and 300,000 euros.
Discovered in a Parisian apartment during an inventory for a succession on November 5, 2024, the canvas represents a table topped with green on which are placed two plates of tin garnished with visitandines (ancestors of financiers), dried fruits and sugar crystals. A glass of red wine and a miche of bread complete the scene.
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If the work was rather well highlighted in an office of this apartment, “The family was not aware of its value”explains Étienne Laurent, the auctioneer of the sale. Staying for several generations in an Auvergne family passionate about heritage, the canvas had followed one of its branches in Paris before falling into oblivion.
A very limited corpus
Still life to financiers Joined an extremely limited corpus since only four other still lifes of Lubin Baugin are known, two of which are kept in the Louvre, Gaking dessert et Still life at the chessboard. To these two paintings are added the Still life in the candlekept at the Galleria Spada in Rome and finally the Still life with apricot cuttingfrom the Museum of Fine Arts in Rennes.
Étienne Laurent
Having been in the workshop of the expert in old paintings René Millet, discovery painting was examined by the biggest international merchants and by conservatives of Parisian museums. Comparisons with the other rare still lifes of Bauginia, in particular Gaking dessert Preserved at the Louvre, revealed the same balance of composition and above all a very characteristic signature, in stick letters, punctuated by two points. Last striking discovery according to the auctioneer: “The work is painted on a very fine oak panel, made up of two boards brought together by a clip system identical to that observed on Gaking dessert. »
Few still lifes of Lubin Baugin are known today because this part of his career was short. Born in Pithiviers (Loiret) in 1610, he joined Paris in 1629, where he obtained his master’s degree in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. At the time, “Young painters not affiliated with the powerful corporation of painters and sculptors could not make large religious or decorative compositions inside the city”explains the auction house on its website. Lubin Baugin then turned to a dead nature, a genre in vogue with the Parisian bourgeoisie and inspired by the presence of Flemish painters in the capital. But this production, already limited in volume, quickly interrupted with its departure for Italy in 1632.
After his death in 1663, Lubin Baugin quickly fell into oblivion before being rediscovered at the XXe century, thanks to the research of art historians Charles Sterling and Michel Faré, who identify his still lifes. The day before the sale, Friday, August 15, the expert in paintings and old drawings René Millet will give a conference at Vichy Enchères on the life and work of Lubin Baugin.