SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
Trained in Dijon under François Devosge, Bénigne Gagneraux continued his career in Rome. Born in Dijon in 1756 and died in Florence in 1795, he won the first Prix de Rome for painting, established by the États de Bourgogne, in 1776 with Marcus Curtus Refusing the Gifts of the Samnites. During his stay in Rome, he made several copies intended for the decoration of the Palais des États de Bourgogne. In 1784, Gustave III of Sweden noticed his work and bought several of his paintings; ten years later, Gagneraux was appointed history painter to the Court of Sweden.
His paintings include large-scale history compositions: The Battle of Sénef (1788), oil on canvas, 296 × 357 cm, and The Crossing of the Rhine by the French Army under the Command of the Grand Condé (1790), a canvas measuring 286 × 359 cm. The Genius of Peace Stopping the Horses of Mars, dated 1794, is also among his works. A painting entitled Horse, signed and dated 1787, is associated by the sale catalogue with a series of horse studies painted that same year. His Collection of Engraved Plates Executed in Rome after the Antique was published in 1792.
In 1983, an exhibition devoted to Gagneraux was held at the Borghese Gallery in Rome; an exhibition was also organised from June to September at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon, with which Sylvain Laveissière’s monograph, published the same year, is associated. The Musée d’Art et d’Histoire de Genève holds The Genius of Peace Stopping the Horses of Mars.
This profile brings together identity references for Bénigne Gagneraux and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
Genève Enchères
References include catalogue entries and available results; they do not all represent completed sales. Attributed works and special lots are excluded from the priced results.
Oil on canvas
Cheval
huile sur toile
Date to be documented
Published result : 590000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 2000–3000
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
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