GUIBAL (Nicolas). - Lot 340

GUIBAL (Nicolas). 1725–1784. Painter, member of the Royal Academy of Painting, court painter in Stuttgart, son of the Lorraine sculptor Barthélémy Guibal. 2 letters. (to the Baron de Joursanvault). Stuttgart, September 1768 and July 7, 1779. 2 pp., double-leaf folio, inner margins slightly yellowed, reinforced at the bottom; 4 pp., double-leaf quarto A lovely letter from the painter, who is embarrassed to have hastily sent a portrait he considers mediocre to the recipient, mentioning his young student Heinrich-Friedrich FÜLER (1751–1818), future director of the Vienna Academy, his friends LE BRET (of the Nancy Academy?) and the great painter Joshua REYNOLDS (1723–1792); Perhaps I should not have sent you my portrait—which he says you wished to have—based on a mere letter from the young Füger to one of my students (…). He is, however, very flattered by your invitation; several of my friends, notably Professor Le Bret, assure me that (…) you will kindly accept this drawing, which I made myself based on my friend Reynolds’s painting (…). He notes in a postscript that he has placed the drawing under glass in a box, to be sent via the Leipzig mail coach. ENCLOSED is a long letter regarding the wines that his correspondent sent him for the Court; “ (…) I must confess that samples in such large quantities are worth the price; however, what in my view greatly increases their value is the fact that they come from an enlightened man who is a lover of the arts and a friend to artists (…). The basket arrived in good condition, except for one bottle that had broken (…). I followed all the instructions you did me the honor of giving me to have the wines tasted in the best possible way (…). I will therefore simply inform you that the wines were found to be good, but all the tasters, accustomed here to drinking only Burgundy wines—always blended with a local red wine (…) of mediocre quality—which consequently allows our merchants to sell such blends at a price well below market value (…). All the tasters, I say, complained about their high price (…) despite everything that the Viscount de Vibraye, the King’s minister at our court—whose cellar is well-stocked (…), might have said in favor of their price and quality. Etc.