Ludovic-Napoléon LEPIC (Paris, 1839-1889). Portsmouth,... Lot 342

Ludovic-Napoléon LEPIC (Paris, 1839-1889). Portsmouth, July 10, 1879. Oil on canvas, signed and titled lower right "Portsmouth / 10 July 79 / The Woodpecker". H. 74 x W. 60 cm. Provenance Private collection from the South of France. Literature - Illustrated in Thierry Zimmer, Ludovic-Napoléon LEPIC "Le Patron", Musée d'Opale-Sud, 2013, p. 206. - See also: La pourpre et l'exil, L'aiglon et le Prince impérial, cat. expo, éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, 2004, p. 235. History The tragic and courageous death of the Prince inspired several painters, among them Ludovic Lepic (his father had been the Prince's orderly). Our painting represents the initial version of his spectacular work The Return which was exhibited at the 1880 Salon and brought the artist his greatest "media" success. The painting was once in the Château de Compiègne and is now on display at the Musée Napoléon in Cendrieux. Its subject evokes the journey of the coffin from the coasts of Africa to those of England, and illustrates the moment when, placed in a boat, the body is transferred from the HMS Orontes to the HMS Enchantress, in Portsmouth harbor. Henriette Chandet and Suzanne Desternes describe the scene chosen by Lepic as follows: "A cannon shot announced that the Prince Imperial had just left the Orontes. In the port, as a sign of mourning, the flag was lowered to half-mast. Every minute a cannon shot sounded, a mournful roar. The boat [...] arrived near the Enchantress. They proceeded to the transhipment, then the yacht took the sea". In his first thought on the subject, Lepic favors this dark, tormented, almost sinister effect, whereas the final painting, presented during the exhibition Le pourpre et l'exil, L'aiglon et le Prince impérial at Compiègne in 2004, is more meditative and from which emanates a feeling of recollection.