"Originally thought to be one of John White’s drawings from his 16th-century Virginia expedition,
this colorful miniature is now attributed to the French artist Jacques
Le Moyne. It does not show a North American native as first thought but
rather imagines an early inhabitant of the British Isles, a member of
the Picts, a group of people who lived in what is now modern-day
Scotland during the Late Iron Age and Early Medieval periods. As Lisa
Ford from the Yale Center for British Art notes,
the image was most likely “intended to remind readers that early
natives of the British Isles existed in a savage state similar to
natives in the Americas”. Although the "Picts" are often said to have
tattooed themselves, there is little actual evidence for this, though
their name does seem to stem from the Latin word Picti meaning
“painted or tattooed people”. As Ford comments, Le Moyne’s rendering of
this young woman in a head-to-toe floral tattoo brings together his “two
known subject areas, ethnological drawings and botanicals”. Anyone
clued up on their history of botany will notice that Le Moyne includes
in his floral design species which were newly introduced to Western
Europe at the time, and so rendering the woman in the picture slightly
anachronistic".
"Jacques le Moyne de Morgues (c. 1533–1588) was a French artist and member of Jean Ribault's expedition to the New World. His depictions of Native American, colonial life and plants are of extraordinary historical importance. Until well into the 20th century, knowledge of Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues was extremely limited, and largely confined to the footnotes of inaccessible ethnographic bibliographies, where he figures as the writer and illustrator of a short history of Laudonniere's attempt in 1564-5 to establish a Huguenot settlement in Florida. In 1922, however, Spencer Savage, librarian of the Linnean Society, made a discovery that opened the way to the subsequent definition of Le Moyne as an artistic personality; he recognized that a group of fifty-nine watercolors of plants contained in a small volume, purchased by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1856 solely for its fine sixteenth-century French binding, were in fact by Le Moyne. Savage's publications relating to this discovery prepared the way for subsequent attribution to the artist of other important groups of drawings and watercolors, which form the core of his known oeuvre".
"Le Moyne was born about 1533, in Morgues, some 7 miles east of Châteaudun, in the Loire Valley, France. The first thirty years of his life are undocumented, but it seems reasonable to suppose that he trained as an artist in his native town, which was at the time a notable center both for cartography and for illumination. Le Moyne probably worked at the court of King Charles IX of France, although there is no documentary record to that effect, nor are there any surviving works by the artist dating from before his departure for Florida in 1564.
Le Moyne accompanied the French expedition of Jean Ribault and René Laudonnière in an ill-fated attempt to colonize northern Florida. They arrived at the St. Johns River in 1564, and soon founded Fort Caroline near present-day Jacksonville.
Painting in the Calvinist style, he is mostly known for his artistic
depictions of the landscape, flora, fauna, and, most importantly, the
inhabitants of the New World. His drawings of the cultures commonly referred to as the Timucua (known through their reproduction by the Dutch publisher Theodor de Bry)
are largely regarded as some of the most accessible data about the
cultures of the Southeastern Coastal United States; however, many of
these depictions and maps are currently being questioned by historians
and archaeologists as to their authenticity. During this expedition he
became known as a cartographer and an illustrator as he painted
landscapes and reliefs of the land they crossed".
"All but a few of Le Moyne's original black and white historical drawings were reportedly destroyed in
the Spanish attack on Fort Caroline; many the black and white historical images attributed to him
are actually engravings created by the Belgian printer and publisher Theodor de Bry,
which are based on recreations Le Moyne produced from memory. These
reproductions, distributed by Le Moyne in printed volumes, are some of
the earliest images of European colonization in the New World to be
circulated. Le Moyne died in London in 1588, and his detailed account of
the voyage, Brevis narratio eorum quae in Florida Americai provincia Gallis acciderunt, was published in 1591. A re-edition of his paintings including critical response has been published in 1977 by the British Museum".
"Le Moyne ended his career as a highly regarded botanical artist in Elizabethan London, where his patrons included Sir Walter Raleigh and Lady Mary Sidney.
The six documented works by the artist in private hands are exquisite
gouaches which embody and combine in a most original manner three
diverse artistic traditions: the first is that of manuscript
illumination in Le Moyne's native France; the second is the recording of
exotic and native flora, fauna and cultures, which was the artistic
expression of the late sixteenth-century fascination with exploration
and scientific investigation; and the third is the purely aesthetic love
of flowers and gardens which was so apparent in Elizabethan court
culture".
"The most extravagant and exquisitely wrought of all Le Moyne's floral
works are the six miniature-like gouaches from the Korner collection.
Purchased as the work of an anonymous Netherlandish artist of circa
1600, their authorship was recognized by art historians Dr. Rosy
Schilling and Mr. Paul Hutton, by comparison with the drawings by Le
Moyne in the British Museum. These are generally similar in conception
to the watercolors in the British Museum, and must also date from around
1585".
Read below for an interesting account of the sale of a recently discovered le Moyne painting.
All photos and text courtesy of Public Domain Review, wiki, Miles Harvey and Still Life, Quick Heart
To the auctioneer’s right stood a painting as unostentatious as it
was enigmatic. Measuring just under six inches tall by not quite eight
inches wide, the watercolor--an austere still life with apples,
chestnuts, and medlars arranged on a plain white background--seemed
somehow too small, too stark, to fetch such an extravagant price. These
were not its only incongruities. There was no signature on the painting,
nor had any information been made publicly available about the
provenance of this previously unknown work, dated to the mid-1500s. Lost
to history for more than four centuries, it had suddenly appeared, with
great fanfare but little explanation, in a sale at Sotheby’s, the
venerable auction house.
This was in late January of 2004, a time when art collectors, curators and dealers from all over Europe and America had congregated in Manhattan for a week devoted to auctions of drawings by old masters. The annual event typically features, in the words of one industry journal, “a great deal of schmoozing, drinking and malicious gossip,” but on this day the mood was sober and tense as buyers jammed into the salesroom, nervously fingering catalogues as they shifted in their seats or whispering in groups as they stood along the walls. Many of them were there to bid on the season’s star attractions: a group of 27 natural-history paintings, including the one that had just sold for $120,000. These works, painted in watercolor and gouache over traces of black chalk, had been executed in the 16th century but only recently rediscovered.
The artist to whom they were attributed was as mysterious as the paintings themselves. For hundreds of years, he was little more than a historical footnote, his name mentioned only on the browned pages of a few old books and kept alive by a small group of specialized historians and collectors. The better part of his work remained unknown, the breadth of his interests and achievements unrecognized. It was only in the 20th century, as more of his paintings were properly identified, that he began to gain wider fame and academic attention. Yet even today his life story is full of gaps and riddles.
This sale marked the first major discovery of his work in more than 40 years. And while none of the paintings were signed, the bidders were obviously convinced of their authenticity. As the morning wore on, prices spiraled skyward on one small watercolor after another: $85,000 for a study of a dragonfly, a stag beetle, two narcissi, and a columbine; $95,000 for a gillyflower, two wild daffodils, a lesser periwinkle, and a red admiral butterfly; $100,000 for five clove pinks. The purchasers included private collectors and prominent dealers, as well as such august institutions as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Dead for more than four centuries and for most of those years virtually forgotten, Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues was suddenly an artist very much in demand.
"Jacques le Moyne de Morgues (c. 1533–1588) was a French artist and member of Jean Ribault's expedition to the New World. His depictions of Native American, colonial life and plants are of extraordinary historical importance. Until well into the 20th century, knowledge of Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues was extremely limited, and largely confined to the footnotes of inaccessible ethnographic bibliographies, where he figures as the writer and illustrator of a short history of Laudonniere's attempt in 1564-5 to establish a Huguenot settlement in Florida. In 1922, however, Spencer Savage, librarian of the Linnean Society, made a discovery that opened the way to the subsequent definition of Le Moyne as an artistic personality; he recognized that a group of fifty-nine watercolors of plants contained in a small volume, purchased by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1856 solely for its fine sixteenth-century French binding, were in fact by Le Moyne. Savage's publications relating to this discovery prepared the way for subsequent attribution to the artist of other important groups of drawings and watercolors, which form the core of his known oeuvre".
"Le Moyne was born about 1533, in Morgues, some 7 miles east of Châteaudun, in the Loire Valley, France. The first thirty years of his life are undocumented, but it seems reasonable to suppose that he trained as an artist in his native town, which was at the time a notable center both for cartography and for illumination. Le Moyne probably worked at the court of King Charles IX of France, although there is no documentary record to that effect, nor are there any surviving works by the artist dating from before his departure for Florida in 1564.
"Le Moyne ended his career as a highly regarded botanical artist in Elizabethan London, where his patrons included Sir Walter Raleigh and Lady Mary Sidney.
The six documented works by the artist in private hands are exquisite
gouaches which embody and combine in a most original manner three
diverse artistic traditions: the first is that of manuscript
illumination in Le Moyne's native France; the second is the recording of
exotic and native flora, fauna and cultures, which was the artistic
expression of the late sixteenth-century fascination with exploration
and scientific investigation; and the third is the purely aesthetic love
of flowers and gardens which was so apparent in Elizabethan court
culture".
"The most extravagant and exquisitely wrought of all Le Moyne's floral
works are the six miniature-like gouaches from the Korner collection.
Purchased as the work of an anonymous Netherlandish artist of circa
1600, their authorship was recognized by art historians Dr. Rosy
Schilling and Mr. Paul Hutton, by comparison with the drawings by Le
Moyne in the British Museum. These are generally similar in conception
to the watercolors in the British Museum, and must also date from around
1585".All photos and text courtesy of Public Domain Review, wiki, Miles Harvey and Still Life, Quick Heart
Regarding a recently discovered painting by le Moyne Miles Harvey writes: “One hundred and twenty thousand dollars.
Last chance,” said the auctioneer, peering around the crowded salesroom, his hammer cocked in anticipation. “At one hundred and twenty thousand--and down it goes!”The hammer fell with a sharp crack. “At one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. Sold!”
This was in late January of 2004, a time when art collectors, curators and dealers from all over Europe and America had congregated in Manhattan for a week devoted to auctions of drawings by old masters. The annual event typically features, in the words of one industry journal, “a great deal of schmoozing, drinking and malicious gossip,” but on this day the mood was sober and tense as buyers jammed into the salesroom, nervously fingering catalogues as they shifted in their seats or whispering in groups as they stood along the walls. Many of them were there to bid on the season’s star attractions: a group of 27 natural-history paintings, including the one that had just sold for $120,000. These works, painted in watercolor and gouache over traces of black chalk, had been executed in the 16th century but only recently rediscovered.
The artist to whom they were attributed was as mysterious as the paintings themselves. For hundreds of years, he was little more than a historical footnote, his name mentioned only on the browned pages of a few old books and kept alive by a small group of specialized historians and collectors. The better part of his work remained unknown, the breadth of his interests and achievements unrecognized. It was only in the 20th century, as more of his paintings were properly identified, that he began to gain wider fame and academic attention. Yet even today his life story is full of gaps and riddles.
This sale marked the first major discovery of his work in more than 40 years. And while none of the paintings were signed, the bidders were obviously convinced of their authenticity. As the morning wore on, prices spiraled skyward on one small watercolor after another: $85,000 for a study of a dragonfly, a stag beetle, two narcissi, and a columbine; $95,000 for a gillyflower, two wild daffodils, a lesser periwinkle, and a red admiral butterfly; $100,000 for five clove pinks. The purchasers included private collectors and prominent dealers, as well as such august institutions as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Dead for more than four centuries and for most of those years virtually forgotten, Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues was suddenly an artist very much in demand.
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