Commissioned from the artist by Louis-Philippe d’Orleans, later King Louis Philippe;
His deceased sale, Paris, April 28,1851, lot 114;
There acquired by Marie Clementine Caroline Leopoldine Clothilde d’Orleans, Princess Clementine daugther of Louis-Philippe (according to the copy of the annotated catalog of the Cabinet des Estampes de la Bibliothèque Nationale);
Anonymous sale, Paris, Christie’s, 26 June 2002, lot 67;
With P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London, April 2004.

 

J. Vatout, Notices historiques sur les tableaux de la Galerie de S.A.R. Monseigneur le Duc d'Orléans, 1825-1 826, IV, p.147, no. 51.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting is in remarkably good condition. The original inscription is clearly visible on the reverse. The paint layer is clean, stable and only very mildly cracked. Only a few of these cracks are visible in the darker colors of the trees. There is one restoration in the upper right corner. This painting is otherwise un-retouched and clearly in spectacular condition.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

The Château de Neuilly was built in 1751 by Marc-Pierre de Voyer de Paulmy, comte d'Argenson, Secretary of State for war (Ministre de la Défense) from 1743–1757. Located on the right bank of the Seine, the castle was cleverly built on terraces in an Ionic style, with an entrance highlighted by four columns overlooking the river. After the death of Monsieur d’Argenson, his son sold Neuilly in 1766 to Radix de Sainte Foix, Superintendent of the Comte d’Artois, who in turn sold the castle twenty-six years later. In 1794 the château became the property of Mr. and Mrs. Vanderberghe Delannoy, who sold it to Joachim Murat in 1804. After the fall of Napoleon’s empire, it came into the private ownership of the French crown. Louis XVIII gave the castle to Louis-Philippe, Duc d'Orleans in 1819.

Robert Léopold Leprince belonged to a dynasty of artists: he was first a pupil of his father Pierre Leprince-Anne and his brother Xavier, before becoming the teacher of his own brother Gustave Leprince. Born in Paris in 1800, his active career was rather short-lived, as he retired to Chartres as a younger man, where he died in 1847. Despite his relatively brief career, he exhibited regularly at the Salon from 1822 to 1844, obtaining the first class medal in 1824. He also exhibited in the Salons of Northern France, Douai, Valenciennes and Lille. He worked mainly outdoors, often utilizing oil on paper as his preferred medium. He was a landscape artist whose best works, such as the present example, were greatly appreciated and sought after by his contemporaries. His works were regularly purchased by the Société des Amis des Arts Régionales. His f๊avorite themes were depictions of the Alps and well recognized sites in the Alps or the countryside around Paris and Chartres. As in the present picture,𝓀 his works show a commitment to the subtleties of light and a quest for the essential feeling of nature.