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CASANOVA, Francois (1727-1805)

"THE TUMBLED CART"

Watercolor, blue and brown wash, with traces of pierre noire.

18-1/2" x 27-1/2"

A watercolor of impressive size represents a cart accident in a gay and animated spirit. A horse drawn cart, toppled from a broken bridge, lies in the foreground, its passengers thrown on the ground in attitudes expressing astonishment. Two figures are shown still hurtling through the air. A great tree rises at left, dominating the landscape. The bridge stretches across the background, with members of the caravan peering over the edge at the melée below. The light touch of the artist's brush, so close to Fragonard in technique, fills the scene with movement and an atmosphere of shimmering light.

Collections: Unidentified collection mark (TE or CE) on back. Louis Godefroy, Paris (according to a recent inscription on the back; to his name is added the attribution to Fragonard).

FRANCOIS CASANOVA (younger brother of Jacques Casanova de Seingelt, author of the famous Memoires) - London 1. 1727-Brühl, Austria 1805.

Casanova settled in Paris in 1756, exhibited for the first time in the Salon of 1761, and shortly thereafter was named "peintre du roi"; in 1765 he became a member of the Academy. Besides his acknowledged talent as painter of battle scenes, pastorals, genre paintings, and portraiture, Casanova worked at Beauvais where he carried out a series of cartoons for the well-known tapestries (some of these were attributed to Fragonard 2.). He also worked for the Price du Condé, carrying out in 1771 two paintings depicting his patron's victories. In 1780 he was installed at the Louvre, and in 1783 he accepted the invitation of Catherine of Russia and went to Vienna to complete her commissions celebrating her victories over the Turks. 3.

Footnotes:
 
1. His parents were Italian actors, and according to tradition repeated by Charles Blanc (Histoire des Peintres-Ecole Francaise, Paris, 1862) his father was alleged to have been King George II.

2. Jules Badin, "La Manufacture de Tapisserie de Beauvais", Paris 1909, p. viii.

3. For further details, see biography in file.

Note: In his notes on the Salon of 1765, Diderot wrote of Casanoga: "Il a de l'imagination, de la verve; il sort de son cerveau des chevaux qui hennissent, bondissent, mordent, ruent et combattent; des hommes qui s'égorgent en cent manières diverses; des crânes entrouverts, des poitrines percées, des cris, de menaces...".

Note: This watercolor is related to and may even be a preliminary study for the painting in the Musée de Rennes, "Rupture d'un Pont", which was commissioned by Madame Du Barry.