SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
The French painter, draughtsman and engraver Charles Parrocel (1688–1752), the youngest son of the painter Joseph Parrocel, developed a body of work in which cavalry subjects and military events occupy a prominent place. Born and died in Paris, he also trained through contact with Italy and its arts. In Rome, after sending his Moïse sauvé des eaux to Paris, he was appointed a royal pensioner at the Académie de France. He travelled through Italy as far as Malta and returned to study the paintings of the Venetian school, for which he had a strong preference. On his return to France in 1721, he was admitted to the Académie royale with a Combat de cavalerie et d’infanterie. He was subsequently commissioned to produce two large compositions intended for tapestries: L’Entrée aux Tuileries de l’Ambassadeur turc and La Sortie de l’Ambassadeur, its pendant.
The sources record relatively few paintings, but a large number of drawings. This graphic practice is particularly evident in the preparatory work for L’École de cavalerie by François Robichon de la Guérinière, published in 1733: several engravers translated his drawings into etchings. Parrocel accompanied Louis XV during the campaigns of 1744 to 1745 and witnessed the Battle of Fontenoy, which he painted. He exhibited at the Salons of 1737, 1738, 1745 and 1746. Several works held in public collections attest to the diversity of his subjects. The Musée de Picardie in Amiens holds, among other works, Charge de cavalerie sur des fantassins (1721) and hunting scenes dated 1736 and 1738; the Louvre holds Halte de grenadiers à cheval de la maison du roi and Siège d’Audenarde, juillet 1745. In Versailles, the musée de l’Histoire de France holds, among other works, Bataille de Lawfeld, 2 juillet 1747, Entrée de Louis XV à Mons, 30 mai 1747 and Mehmet Effendi, ambassadeur turc, arrive aux Tuileries, 21 mars 1721.
This profile brings together identity references for Charles Parrocel and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
Lempertz · Genève Enchères · Schuler
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.
Charcoal
Deux têtes de chiens
fusain
Catalogue period : 2022-09-22
Published result : 2200 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 1000–1500
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Oil on canvas
Landschaft mit schlafendem Reiter und einem gesattelten Schimmel
Öl auf Leinwand
Auction date : 2020-05-30
Published result : 4000 EUR
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : 3000
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Oil on canvas
Nachfolger Schlachtenszene
Öl auf Leinwand
Catalogue period : 2016-09-12
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 600–800
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Oil on canvas
Nachfolger Schlachtenszene
Öl auf Leinwand
Catalogue period : 2016-06-17
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 1200–1800
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Pinsel in Braun, weiß gehöht auf getöntem Papier
Auction date : 2016-05-21
Published result : 1116 EUR
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : 1000
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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