19/11/24 – Acquisition – Rouen, Museum of Fine Arts – Pioneer of photography and collector in a rather unexpected field, that of ironwork, Henri Le Secq des Tournelles was also a little-known painter. The Rouen Museum of Fine Arts was enriched in 2024 with a painting representing a scene on the port of Naples whose dimensions are relatively large compared to other paintings by his hand (ill. 1). Auctioned by Dorotheum in 2023, the work was exhibited at Tefaf by the Giacometti Old Master Paintings Gallery [1] ; it was finally acquired and donated by the Friends of the museum, with the help of Diederik Bakhuÿs [2] . It joins in the collections a Young Italian girl at the fountain by Le Secq sold for 2,048 euros in an Ader sale on June 13, 2019 and also purchased by the Association of Friends of the Art Museums of Rouen (ill. 2).
- 1.Henri Le Secq des Tournelles (1818-1882)
Tarantella scene at the port of Naples1845
Oil on canvas – 61 x 92 cm
Rouen, Museum of Fine Arts
Photo : Giacometti Old Master Paintings
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See the image on his page
Henri Le Secq trained at the Paris School of Fine Arts between 1835 and 1840; he passed through the workshop of the sculptor James Pradier then that of the painter Paul Delaroche, becoming friends with Gustave Le Gray and Charles Nègre, with whom he turned to photography. His painted work mainly includes genre scenes, some portraits and landscapes as well, which he exhibited regularly at the Salon between 1842 and 1880. He traveled to Italy from 1843 to 1846, from where he sent paintings to Paris, notably the Nap models in 1845 which earned him third prize at the Salon. In the painting acquired by Rouen – which he signed Henry and not Henri, as he subsequently did in most of his works – he depicts musicians on the port of Naples: on the right, two haughty young women , looking severe, are standing, dressed in a suit…
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