Hippolyte Lecomte (1781-1857) Colonel Of Russian Cuirassiers Cavalier Chevalier

Hippolyte LECOMTE
(Puiseaux, 1781 - Paris, 1857)
Russian cuirassier colonel
Oil on canvas
H. 33 cm; L. 24 cm
Signed and dated lower center
1817

Exhibition : Salon du Louvre of 1817, under number 504 in the booklet

Provenance: collection Philippe Quéval

Often reduced to a painter of battles and military subjects, Hippolyte Lecomte, described as "excellent master" by Paul Marmottan, nevertheless worked in many registers. Troubadour style, genre scenes in the spirit of Boilly, costume designs for the Opéra and Théâtre Italien between 1823 and 1830, and landscape. It was Pierre-Antoine Mongin who had introduced him to the latter genre, after initial training with Regnault.
A native of Loiret, Lecomte exhibited at the Salon almost continuously from 1804 to 1847, winning a first-class medal in 1808, and regularly good reviews. Thus, in Le Journal de Paris of July 23, 1817, he was singled out as a landscape artist, alongside Langlacé, Bouhot and Regnier: "...among the landscape artists we knew less about... his color is perhaps a little raw; his foliage lacks lightness; but his manner is frank and precise; and he renders well the general effect of a site". At the 1824 Salon: "Toujours de l'esprit et une piquante précision"; the nonetheless not very indulgent Auguste Jal wrote: "M. Hippolyte Lecomte deserves this year the praise of all friends of the Arts".
Lecomte was among the first leading lithographers in the 1810s. In particular, he produced several plates for the Voyage dans le Levantdu comte de Forbin, published in 1819, and, in 1820, all 380 colored lithographs for the Costumes civils et militaires de la Monarchie française de 1200 à 1820. He also collaborated briefly with Baron Taylor on plates for Voyages Pittoresques.
Always close to the various powers-that-be, he built up a prestigious clientele, which included Josephine, the Duchess of Berry and the Bourbons under the Restoration, Louis- Philippe... His works can be seen at Versailles (some thirty large-scale canvases for the historical museum), Trianon, Saint-Cloud, Compiègne, Fontainebleau.
In December 1807, Lecomte married Carle Vernet's daughter Camille (1788-1858) and thus became Horace Vernet's brother-in-law, with whom he worked regularly. One of his sons, Emile Lecomte-Vernet, became a famous Orientalist painter. His best-known pupil, Jean-Jacques Grandville (1803-1847), was a successful caricaturist and illustrator.


Our small painting, exhibited at the 1817 Salon in its rich and important original frame, is a rare depiction of Russian heavy cavalry. The outfit corresponds to that of 1812-1814: high black pumpkin leather helmets with visors at the front (with brass trim) and rear, black steel breastplates.


The officer at the head of his men, perfectly lit, stands out against a twilight sky of dark clouds, smoked by artillery fire and troop movement. We find the dramatic atmosphere and energy of Géricault's paintings (the Wounded Cuirassier and the Charging Officer of the Chasseurs à Cheval) presented at the 1812 and 1814 Salons, but without the romantic power. The horse thus owes more to Carle Vernet (who published the collection La Grande Armée de 1812), the artist's father-in-law, with a brilliant but much less spirited execution.