Claude III Audran, Arbiter of the French Arabesque is the first substantial biographical study of Claude III Audran, a late 17th- and early 18th-century master of ornament and a proponent of cutting-edge design who took inspiration from contemporary sources. This work investigates Audran’s accomplishments and the factors that impacted the longevity and arc of his successful career, taking into consideration the contextual variables that influenced and shaped his work. Audran’s achievements bridge an important period with the eclipse of the Guild Maîtrise and the rise of the Académie royale. Audran subcontracted young artists, such as Watteau, Lancret, and Desportes, in order to circumvent restrictions on guild practice enacted by the crown. Looking at his commissions not only reveals the elite taste of his patrons, including Louis XIV, but also Audran’s ability to use elements from popular culture to animate his arabesques, which created hallmarks of rococo interior design.
- Cover
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1. Biography of Claude III Audran (1658–1734)
- 2. The French Arabesque as an Art Form, Audran as Master Ornamentalist, and His Initial Commissioned Works
- 3. Claude III Audran and Jean de La Fontaine’s Fables: Maintaining the Social Hierarchy
- 4. Attracting New Patrons in the Eighteenth Century
- 5. Claude III Audran’s Competitors and His Legacies
- Color Plates
- Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
- List of Illustrations
- Figure 1.1 Jean-Antoine Watteau, A Bewigged Painter (Possibly Claude III Audran) Seated at his Easel, Seen in Profile, c. 1709. Red chalk on cream laid card, 201 x 134 mm. The Art Institute of Chicago, The Regenstein Collection.
- Figure 1.2 Andre Camot d’après Jean I Berain (1640–1711), Ceiling of the Bed Chamber of the Hôtel de Mailly, 1677-1688. In situ, 27 quai Voltaire, Paris, Jean I Berain (the Elder) (1640-1711), Hôtel de mailly, Paris, Photo: © Josse/Bridgeman Images.
- Figure 1.3 Claude III Audran, design drawing for a ceiling of the duchesse de Bouillon’s chamber, c. 1696. Pen, ink, watercolor and gold-leaf on paper, 28 x 35 cm. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Cronstedt Collection.
- Figure 1.4 Claude III Audran, salon ceiling detail, Clichy-la-Garenne Hunting Lodge, Paris, c. 1696. In situ. Photo by author.
- Figure 1.5 Claude III Audran, design drawing for Bacchus, Gobelins Tapestry Series, the Portières des dieux, c. 1699. Pencil, red chalk on paper, 37 x 24.8 cm. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Cronstedt Collection.
- Figure 1.6 Claude III Audran, three design drawings for Les douze mois grotesques. Gobelins Tapestry Series, c. 1708–1709. Courtesy of Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York.
- Figure 1.7 Coronelli celestial and terrestrial globes, c. 1690s. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. Attrib. Photo: Myrabella/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0.
- Figure 1.8 Possibly Claude III Audran, design drawing for celestial globe, n.d. Pen and ink on paper. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Cronstedt Collection.
- Figure 1.9 Jacques Gabriel, Architect (1667–1742); Claude III Audran and Nicolas Lancret, Cabinet doré, Hôtel de Peyrenc de Moras, Paris, c. 1724. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris.
- Figure 2.1 Claude III Audran, study for ceiling decoration and several alternatives for a Cabinet at Château de Sceaux, Sceaux, c. 1704. Red chalk on paper, 25 x 29.2 cm. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Cronstedt Collection.
- Figure 2.2 Claude III Audran, study of the ceiling decoration for the gallery belonging to the petit appartement at Château de Sceaux, Sceaux, c. 1704. Pencil and wash on paper, 25 x 29.2 cm. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Cronstedt Collection.
- Figure 2.3 Claude III Audran, sketch of an arabesque for a harpsichord lid, n.d. Red chalk on paper. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Cronstedt Collection.
- Figure 3.1 Charles Perrault, The Labyrinth of Versailles, illustrated with engravings by Sébastien Le Clerc, The Cock and the Fox, c. 1677. Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
- Figure 3.2 Jules Hardouin-Mansart, floor plan with separate north and south wing plans, Ménagerie, Versailles, c. 1701. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris.
- Figure 3.3 Claude III Audran, design drawing for a ceiling at the Ménagerie, c. 1699. Cabinet des Estampes, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris.
- Figure 3.4 André Charles Boulle, a pair of corner tables made for the Ménagerie, c. 1701. Oak with walnut; veneered with brass with Boulle contrepartie marquetry of tortoise shell, pewter, copper, and horn, with gilt bronze mounts. ©Victoria and Albert Mu
- Figure 3.5 Andre-Charles Boulle, side table, c. 1705. Oak, pinewood, walnut, some stained black, gilt bronze and première- and contrepartie Boulle marquetry of brass and tortoise shell, steel key. Wallace Collection, London, UK / © Wallace Collection, Lon
- Figure 4.1 Anne Claude Philippe de Tubières, comte de Caylus (1692–1765) and Charles-François Jouillan (1697–1778) after Charles-Antoine Coypel (1694–1752). Aymon Premier, c. 1726. Etching and engraving, 29.5 x 19.2 cm. The Henfield Foundation Gift, 2014,
- Figure 4.2 Engravings by Pierre Aveline and Jean Moyreau after Claude III Audran and Antoine Watteau, decorative panel designs of the Hôtel de Nointel, c. 1731. Emile Dacier and Albert Vuaflart, Jean de Julienne et les gravures de Watteau au XVIIIème sièc
- Figure 4.3 Michel Aubert after Watteau, Idole de la déesse Ki Mao Sao, c. 1729. Etching and engraving. © The British Museum, London.
- Figure 4.4 Claude III Audran, Design for a ceiling, c. 1708–1716. Red chalk on paper. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Cronstedt Collection.
- Figure 4.5 Claude III Audran, drawing for an oblong ceiling decoration for the Hôtel de Verrue, n.d. Pencil on paper. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Cronstedt Collection.
- Figure 4.6 Nicolas Lancret, five decorative panels: The Gardener, Horticulture, The Vintage, The Seesaw, The Swing, c. 1721. Oil on canvas, 157 x 43 x 5.5 cm. Gift of the Louis Dudley Beaumont Foundation, The Cleveland Museum of Art.
- Plate 1. Claude III Audran, ceiling for the Hôtel de Verrue, c. 1725. Paint on canvas, cornice of painted and gilded stucco, 640 x 304 cm. Bibliothèque du Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. © Les Arts Décoratifs.
- Plate 2. Claude III Audran, design drawing for a ceiling at the Château d’Anet, Anet, c. 1686, Pen, ink, and watercolor on paper, 41.3 x 35.5 cm. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Cronstedt Collection.
- Plate 3. Claude III Audran, salon ceiling, Clichy-la-Garenne Hunting Lodge,Paris, c. 1696. In situ. Photo by author.
- Plate 4. Claude III Audran, Jupiter/Fire, the Portières des dieux, Gobelins Tapestry Series, c. 1699. Woven silk and wool tapestry, 348 x 259 cm. © Mobilier national, Paris.
- Plate 5. Claude III Audran, six of twelve Les douze mois grotesques, April–September, Gobelins Tapestry Series, c. 1708–1709. Silk and wool woven tapestry. Paris, © Mobilier national, Paris.
- Plate 6. Claude III Audran, design drawing for a ceiling of the Petite chambre à coucher of the princesse de Conti at Versailles, c. 1709. Watercolor on paper, 23.1 x 34.4 cm. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Cronstedt Collection.
- Plate 7. Claude III Audran and Jean-Antoine Watteau, painted ceiling and detail, c. 1710. In situ, Hôtel de Nointel, Paris. Photo by author.
- Plate 8. Claude III Audran and Jean-Baptiste Oudry, painted salon panels, Château de Réveillon, Réveillon, c. 1733. In situ Photo by author.
- Plate 9. Claude III Audran, Ruckers and Couchet painted harpsichord, c. 1652. Oil paint and gilding on wood. Château de Versailles, Versailles. Art Resource. Detail photo by author.
- Plate 10. Claude III Audran, arabesque designs for a harpsichord lid, n.d. Oil paint and gilt on paper. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Cronstedt Collection.
- Plate 11. Claude III Audran, presentation drawing of an arabesque ceiling design with figures and animals, c. 1699. Gouache against a gilded background, 35.6 x 17.9 cm. Bibliothèque du Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. © Les Arts Décoratifs.
- Plate 12. Claude III Audran, design drawing, ceiling of Flora, c. 1699. Pencil and wash on paper. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Cronstedt Collection.
- Plate 13. Claude III Audran and François Desportes, Screen, Savonnerie manufactory, 1719–1769. Wool panels – wool, wood and gilt bronze; Waddesdon (National Trust) Bequest of James de Rothschild, 1957; acc. no. 2318. Photo: Waddesdon Image Library, Mike F
- Plate 14. Claude III Audran and Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686–1755), painted panel with La Fontaine Fable, The Stag Who Sees Himself in the Water, c. 1733. Salon, Château de Réveillon, Réveillon. Photo by author.
- Plate 15. Claude III Audran and Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686–1755), detail, painted panel with La Fontaine Fable, The Wolf and the Lamb, c. 1733. Salon, Château de Réveillon, Réveillon. Photo by author.
- Plate 16. Claude III Audran and Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686–1755), detail, painted panel with La Fontaine Fable, The Fox and the Goat, c. 1733. Salon, Château de Réveillon, Réveillon. Photo by author.
- Plate 17. Claude III Audran and Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686–1755), detail, painted panel with La Fontaine Fable, The Fox and the Grapes, c. 1733. Salon, Château de Réveillon, Réveillon. Photo by author.
- Plate 18. Claude Audran and Jean-Antoine Watteau, The Cajoler, The Faun decorative wall panels, c. 1710. Oil on panel, 79.5 x 39 cm.; 87 x 39 cm.. Musée des beaux-arts, Valenciennes. ©RMN/Régis Decottignes.
- Plate 19. Claude III Audran and Nicolas Lancret, The Pilgrim, The Lady with a Parasol, arabesque panel design, formerly from the Hôtel Peyrenc de Moras, c. 1724., Oil on canvas, 300 x 59 cm. Bibliothèque du Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. © Les Arts Déc
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