Augustin Blondel de Gagny
Encyclopedia
Augustin Blondel de Gagny (oɡystɛ̃ blɔ̃dɛl də ɡaɲi; March 1695 – 9 July 1776) was a French connoisseur
of the arts and a collector whose series of Paris auction sale
s, which took place soon after his death were highwater marks of the history of collecting in 18th-century France. Paintings and sculptures that passed through Blondel de Gagny's collection are dispersed in many of the world's great museums. The print
s from his collection are less easily traced.
His father, Joseph Blondel, was conseiller and general treasurer at the Bâtiments du roi, the establishment in charge of building and maintaining the royal buildings and parks. Joseph purchased the château de Gagny from its Billy heirs in 1706; though it was purchased by the creditors of his estate in 1716, Augustin Blondel de Gagny retained its name. Augustin married Marguerite-Henriette Barbier, who predeceased him.
Due in part to the confidence in his competence shown by Jean-Baptiste de Machault d'Arnouville, from 1750 Augustin Blondel held the post of general treasurer of the Caisse des Amortissements that was intended to pay down the king's debts and from April 1752 that of supervisor of the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi
, responsible for ephemeral decorations for all the fêtes of the court of Louis XVI. Part of his duties that must have been pleasant was the supervision of the Opera, for Blondel loved music: the Stradivarius violin
"the best known by this master" according to the sale catalogue, which he kept in his little château at Garges-lès-Gonesse (Val d'Oise), was bought at the sale by Paillet, for 601 livres; there were several other violins as well.
In 1759 he took up residence in his late father's hôtel particulier
in Place Louis le Grand (Place Vendôme
). There his collection of paintings and works of art was among the most visited and commented upon in Paris, after those of the princes. He had made his first public purchases at the sale of the comtesse de Verrue, 1737. By 1745 his place among the most selective collectors was well established: when the marchand-mercier
Gersaint
returned with paintings he had bought at The Hague, he went first to his patron, Blondel de Gagny, who selected from Gersaint's offerings a Nicolaes Berghem
. Among the very few views of a French 18th-century collector's interior, to show how paintings were hung, is Gabriel de Saint-Aubin's drawing of Blondel de Gagny's cabinet intérieure part of the suite of rooms in which his collection was displayed, filling the walls to the cornice but carefully balanced, repeatedly creating pendants and contrasts. Setting off the gilding of frames and the dark patination of bronze statuettes and the white of small marbles, green damask that Hester Thrale
noticed covered the walls in at least one of the salons.
Of the rich furnishings, by ébéniste
s of the calibre of Bernard II van Risamburgh
, little has been securely identified, not even Blondel de Gagny's gilt-bronze cartel clock by Charles Cressent
a Rococo sculptural composition surmounted by Father Time with his scythe. Blondel was one of the first to revive the taste for the Baroque furniture of André-Charles Boulle; a medal cabinet by Boulle of the familiar design delivered to Louis XIV is already described in the hôtel in 1766 and by the time of his death fully twenty armoires, commodes and tables attributed to the great Boulle or his sons figured in the sale catalogue. There were Chinese lacquer cabinets and boxes, Chinese and Japanese porcelains and those of Vincennes
and Sèvres, bronzes and marbles, bronze fire dogs and chimney garnitures by Coustou and Auguste— and 17 fine clocks.
Augustin Blondel de Gagny's own refined taste in paintings ran to Flemish and Dutch old master
s of the 17th and 18th century (a Van Dyck Young Man Playing a Lute, Gabriel Metsu
, Nicolaes Berghem, Philips Wouwerman, David Teniers the Younger
' Prodigal Son), Among his French paintings were Nicolas Poussin
's Nourriture de Jupiter and Claude Lorrain
's View of the Campo Vaccino, and a port capriccio, all now at the Louvre.
His cabinet
, distributed among eleven rooms of the hôtel, was also celebrated for the number and quality of the small bronze sculptures interspersed with porcelains on tables and commodes and chimneypieces. There were the reductions of famous antiquities that would be expected, the usual paired bronze Enlèvement groups after Giambologna
and François Girardon
, and sculptures by Michel Anguier. Among the refined small bronzes that furnished his apartments was Robert Le Lorrain
's Andromeda, now at the Louvre
; Le Lorrain's other sculptures in the collection have not been traced: marble busts of a Faun and a Dryad and of Ganymede and Flora in the staircase, and bronzes Air, A Childand two busts of women .
He also purchased the little château de Garges which he rebuilt in neoclassical taste
by Pierre Contant d'Ivry
; it was modified in the 19th century and has been demolished.
By terms of his will (9 July 1776) the collection was sold to provide capital for his grandchildren. The sum of 405,741 livres was raised by the series of auctions. Louis XVI himself was among the purchasers. Further works of art from his collection appeared in sales of October and November 1783 of his only son, Barthélemy-Augustin Blondel d’Azincourt (1719— 1783), who bought in at the sales a portion of his father’s collection.
Connoisseur
A connoisseur is a person who has a great deal of knowledge about the fine arts, cuisines, or an expert judge in matters of taste.Modern connoisseurship must be seen along with museums, art galleries and "the cult of originality"...
of the arts and a collector whose series of Paris auction sale
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
s, which took place soon after his death were highwater marks of the history of collecting in 18th-century France. Paintings and sculptures that passed through Blondel de Gagny's collection are dispersed in many of the world's great museums. The print
Old master print
An old master print is a work of art produced by a printing process within the Western tradition . A date of about 1830 is usually taken as marking the end of the period whose prints are covered by this term. The main techniques concerned are woodcut, engraving and etching, although there are...
s from his collection are less easily traced.
His father, Joseph Blondel, was conseiller and general treasurer at the Bâtiments du roi, the establishment in charge of building and maintaining the royal buildings and parks. Joseph purchased the château de Gagny from its Billy heirs in 1706; though it was purchased by the creditors of his estate in 1716, Augustin Blondel de Gagny retained its name. Augustin married Marguerite-Henriette Barbier, who predeceased him.
Due in part to the confidence in his competence shown by Jean-Baptiste de Machault d'Arnouville, from 1750 Augustin Blondel held the post of general treasurer of the Caisse des Amortissements that was intended to pay down the king's debts and from April 1752 that of supervisor of the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi
Menus-Plaisirs du Roi
The Menus-Plaisirs du Roi was, in the organisation of the French royal household under the Ancien Régime, the department of the Maison du Roi responsible for the "lesser pleasures of the King", which meant in practice that it was in charge of all the preparations for ceremonies, events and...
, responsible for ephemeral decorations for all the fêtes of the court of Louis XVI. Part of his duties that must have been pleasant was the supervision of the Opera, for Blondel loved music: the Stradivarius violin
Stradivarius
The name Stradivarius is associated with violins built by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari. According to their reputation, the quality of their sound has defied attempts to explain or reproduce, though this belief is controversial...
"the best known by this master" according to the sale catalogue, which he kept in his little château at Garges-lès-Gonesse (Val d'Oise), was bought at the sale by Paillet, for 601 livres; there were several other violins as well.
In 1759 he took up residence in his late father's hôtel particulier
Hôtel particulier
In French contexts an hôtel particulier is an urban "private house" of a grand sort. Whereas an ordinary maison was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a street, an hôtel particulier was often free-standing, and by the 18th century it...
in Place Louis le Grand (Place Vendôme
Place Vendôme
Place Vendôme is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine. It is the starting point of the Rue de la Paix. Its regular architecture by Jules Hardouin-Mansart and pedimented screens canted across the...
). There his collection of paintings and works of art was among the most visited and commented upon in Paris, after those of the princes. He had made his first public purchases at the sale of the comtesse de Verrue, 1737. By 1745 his place among the most selective collectors was well established: when the marchand-mercier
Marchand-mercier
A marchand-mercier is a French term for a type of entrepreneur working outside the guild system of craftsmen but carefully constrained by the regulations of a corporation under rules codified in 1613.. The reduplicative term literally means a merchant of merchandise, but in the 18th century took...
Gersaint
Edme-François Gersaint
Edme-François Gersaint was a Parisian marchand-mercier who was a central figure in the development of the art market and the luxury trades during the era of the Régence and the rule of the rococo style...
returned with paintings he had bought at The Hague, he went first to his patron, Blondel de Gagny, who selected from Gersaint's offerings a Nicolaes Berghem
Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem
Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem was a highly esteemed and prolific Dutch Golden Age painter of pastoral landscapes, populated with mythological or biblical figures, but also of a number of allegories and genre pieces....
. Among the very few views of a French 18th-century collector's interior, to show how paintings were hung, is Gabriel de Saint-Aubin's drawing of Blondel de Gagny's cabinet intérieure part of the suite of rooms in which his collection was displayed, filling the walls to the cornice but carefully balanced, repeatedly creating pendants and contrasts. Setting off the gilding of frames and the dark patination of bronze statuettes and the white of small marbles, green damask that Hester Thrale
Hester Thrale
Hester Lynch Thrale was a British diarist, author, and patron of the arts. Her diaries and correspondence are an important source of information about Samuel Johnson and 18th-century life.-Biography:Thrale was born at Bodvel Hall, Caernarvonshire, Wales...
noticed covered the walls in at least one of the salons.
Of the rich furnishings, by ébéniste
Ébéniste
Ébéniste is the French word for a cabinetmaker, whereas in French menuisier denotes a woodcarver or chairmaker. The English equivalent for "ébéniste," "ebonist," is never commonly used. Originally, an ébéniste was one who worked with ebony, a favoured luxury wood for mid-seventeenth century...
s of the calibre of Bernard II van Risamburgh
Bernard II van Risamburgh
Bernard II van Risamburgh, sometimes Risen Burgh was a Parisian ébéniste of Dutch and French extraction, one of the outstanding cabinetmakers working in the Rococo style. "Bernard II's furniture is brilliant in almost every respect...
, little has been securely identified, not even Blondel de Gagny's gilt-bronze cartel clock by Charles Cressent
Charles Cressent
Charles Cressent was a French furniture-maker, sculptor and fondeur-ciseleur of the régence style. As the second son of François Cressent, sculpteur du roi, and grandson of Charles Cressent, a furniture-maker of Amiens, who also became a sculptor, he inherited the tastes and aptitudes which were...
a Rococo sculptural composition surmounted by Father Time with his scythe. Blondel was one of the first to revive the taste for the Baroque furniture of André-Charles Boulle; a medal cabinet by Boulle of the familiar design delivered to Louis XIV is already described in the hôtel in 1766 and by the time of his death fully twenty armoires, commodes and tables attributed to the great Boulle or his sons figured in the sale catalogue. There were Chinese lacquer cabinets and boxes, Chinese and Japanese porcelains and those of Vincennes
Vincennes porcelain
The Vincennes porcelain manufactory was established in 1740 in the disused royal Château de Vincennes, in Vincennes, east of Paris, which was from the start the main market for its wares.-History:...
and Sèvres, bronzes and marbles, bronze fire dogs and chimney garnitures by Coustou and Auguste— and 17 fine clocks.
Augustin Blondel de Gagny's own refined taste in paintings ran to Flemish and Dutch old master
Old Master
"Old Master" is a term for a European painter of skill who worked before about 1800, or a painting by such an artist. An "old master print" is an original print made by an artist in the same period...
s of the 17th and 18th century (a Van Dyck Young Man Playing a Lute, Gabriel Metsu
Gabriel Metsu
Gabriël Metsu was a Dutch painter of history paintings, genre works and portraits.- Life :Metsu was the son of the Flemish painter Jacques Metsu , who lived most of his days at Leiden, and Jacomijntje Garniers, his third wife, whom he married in 1625. Jacomijntje was the widow of a painter with...
, Nicolaes Berghem, Philips Wouwerman, David Teniers the Younger
David Teniers the Younger
David Teniers the Younger was a Flemish artist born in Antwerp, the son of David Teniers the Elder. His son David Teniers III and his grandson David Teniers IV were also painters...
' Prodigal Son), Among his French paintings were Nicolas Poussin
Nicolas Poussin
Nicolas Poussin was a French painter in the classical style. His work predominantly features clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color. His work serves as an alternative to the dominant Baroque style of the 17th century...
's Nourriture de Jupiter and Claude Lorrain
Claude Lorrain
Claude Lorrain, , traditionally just Claude in English Claude Lorrain, , traditionally just Claude in English (also Claude Gellée, his real name, or in French Claude Gellée, , dit le Lorrain) Claude Lorrain, , traditionally just Claude in English (also Claude Gellée, his real name, or in French...
's View of the Campo Vaccino, and a port capriccio, all now at the Louvre.
His cabinet
Cabinet (room)
A cabinet was one of a number of terms for a private room in the domestic architecture and that of palaces of early modern Europe, a room serving as a study or retreat, usually for a man. The cabinet would be furnished with books and works of art, and sited adjacent to his bedchamber, the...
, distributed among eleven rooms of the hôtel, was also celebrated for the number and quality of the small bronze sculptures interspersed with porcelains on tables and commodes and chimneypieces. There were the reductions of famous antiquities that would be expected, the usual paired bronze Enlèvement groups after Giambologna
Giambologna
Giambologna, born as Jean Boulogne, incorrectly known as Giovanni da Bologna and Giovanni Bologna , was a sculptor, known for his marble and bronze statuary in a late Renaissance or Mannerist style.- Biography :...
and François Girardon
François Girardon
François Girardon was a French sculptor.He was born at Troyes. As a boy he had for master a joiner and wood-carver of his native town, named Baudesson, under whom he is said to have worked at the chateau of Liebault, where he attracted the notice of Chancellor Séguier...
, and sculptures by Michel Anguier. Among the refined small bronzes that furnished his apartments was Robert Le Lorrain
Robert Le Lorrain
Robert Le Lorrain was a French baroque sculptor who was born in Paris. He was born into a family of bureaucrats, the son of Claude Le Lorrain, a business agent of Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV's Minister of Finance. Le Lorrain was a student of the French sculptor, painter, and architect, Pierre...
's Andromeda, now at the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
; Le Lorrain's other sculptures in the collection have not been traced: marble busts of a Faun and a Dryad and of Ganymede and Flora in the staircase, and bronzes Air, A Childand two busts of women .
He also purchased the little château de Garges which he rebuilt in neoclassical taste
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
by Pierre Contant d'Ivry
Pierre Contant d'Ivry
Pierre Contant d'Ivry was a French architect and designer working in a chaste and sober Rococo style and in the Goût grec phase of early Neoclassicism.-Biography:...
; it was modified in the 19th century and has been demolished.
By terms of his will (9 July 1776) the collection was sold to provide capital for his grandchildren. The sum of 405,741 livres was raised by the series of auctions. Louis XVI himself was among the purchasers. Further works of art from his collection appeared in sales of October and November 1783 of his only son, Barthélemy-Augustin Blondel d’Azincourt (1719— 1783), who bought in at the sales a portion of his father’s collection.