# 45023

SOLD! Gabriel Lory the Younger "Prussian General Ernst von Pfuel", watercolor, 1834/36

Price:  EUR

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SOLD!

This watercolor portrait, which we acquired from the auction house "Laurent Dupont" in the French town Chatou on October 20, 2024, depicts the famous Prussian general Ernst von Pfuel, hero of the anti-Napoleonic wars. Despite the signature "G. Lory fils d'apres Sulzer" (which means that the watercolor was executed by watercolor artist Mathias Gabriel Lory the Younger after the original of a certain Sulzer), we know the full name of the author of the original oil portrait. He was, like Lory, also a well-known Swiss artist (and worked in Vienna and Berlin in addition to Switzerland): David Sulzer (1784-1864, see his biography below). In fact, the portrait is widely known thanks to the lithograph (see our images nr. 9-10), on which the name of the lithographer and the author of the original - Sulzer - are indicated. One of the impressions of this lithograph is in the public library of Bern, where the lithograph is mistakenly considered to have been made from the original by another artist Sulzer, who died in 1828 and could not have depicted Lieutenant-General (one star on the epaulettes) von Pfuel with the insignia of the 2nd class of the Prussian Order of the Red Eagle "with a star" (this degree of the order was only introduced in 1830!).

Ernst von Pfuel is shown here at the age of 52/55, soon after his promotion to lieutenant-general (1831). "Our" Lory the Younger made this copy during his three-year stay (1834-1836) in Berlin (see his biography below).

It seems that David Sulzer's original oil portrait of Ernst von Pfuel is on display in the Niederreihn-Museum in German town Wesel (where it is still believed to be a work of an unknown artist - see our image nr. 11 with detail photo of this painting (unfortunately we could not find a full-size-illustration).

Our images nr. 12-14 provide extensive biographical material concerning von Pfuel (also CLICK HERE). Let us only dwell on the significant moments of his career:

During the campaign of 1806, he was taken prisoner by the French, but was soon released.
After Tilsit, he left the Prussian army and got a job as a teacher in Dresden.
In 1809, he entered the Austrian service and took part in the campaign of that year. Like his future commander, Baron Tettenborn (see our web # 40503), he left his regiment at the beginning of 1812, not wishing to participate in the upcoming Russian campaign on the side of Napoleon (Austria was then an ally of France), and joined the Russian service. Alexander I attached him to Kutuzov's staff. Soon he was promoted to major and seconded as chief of staff to the newly formed guerrilla detachment of Tettenborn. This detachment captured Berlin for a short time and then Hamburg.
From February 2 to April 11 1814 von Pfuel commanded the 1st Infantry Regiment in the Russo-German Legion. In the summer of 1815, during the Belgian campaign, he was in Blucher's staff.
From July 26 to August 30, 1815, he was commandant of the Prussian sector in Paris, and during these four days he managed to perform the deed that made him famous - he ordered the return of the "quadriga" of the Brandenburg Gate to Berlin (CLICK HERE) stolen by Napoleon in 1806.
In 1818, he became a major-general, and on December 31, 1831 he was promoted to lieutenant-general. In 1844, the king raised him to general of infantry.
In March 1848 (March Revolution), he was governor of Berlin, and on September 21 of the same year he became Prime-Minister and Minister of War, but five weeks later he resigned.
It should also be noted that among his friends was the great German poet Goethe (see image nr. 14 showing both of them on a walk).

David Sulzer (1784 Winterthur, Switzerland - 1868 Landschlacht, Canton Thurgau) began his art studies in his native Winterthur. Further on he went to study in Zurich and Bern. In 1803 he moved to Paris and joined the studio of Jacque Louis David. Upon his return to Switzerland Sulzer became a very popular portrait painter in the German-speaking area of this country. His works are well represented in museums of Winterthur, Bern, Zurich, Frankfurt, as well as in various Swiss private collections.

Mathias Gabriel Lory the Younger ("fils"; June 21, 1784, Bern - August 25, 1846, ibd) was a very well-known Swiss landscape painter, draughtsman, watercolor artist and etcher. Son of the painter Gabriel Lori the Elder.
He early showed a talent for drawing, which he developed under the guidance of his father.
In 1797, he moved with his father to Herisau, where he worked on views of Moscow and St Petersburg. In 1805, he travelled to Neuchâtel and collaborated with his father in the creation of 'Voyage pittoresque de Genève à Milan par le Simplon' (Voyage pittoresque de Genève à Milan par le Simplon, 1811). He travelled to Paris, Switzerland and Italy.
In 1812, Lory the Younger married Henriette-Louise de Meron of Orbe. In Neuchâtel, he obtained a position of an art teacher at the town school, and his wife supervised the publication of his works.
In the following years, together with César Henri Monvert (1784-1848), Lory the Younger published several works depicting Swiss folk costumes, views of the Bernese Oberland and the rest of Switzerland. In 1828 he visited Paris and worked at court.
In 1832, Lory moved to Bern and became a member of the Bernese Society of Artists (Bernischen Künstlergesellschaft). He undertook trips to various regions of Switzerland and Italy. He spent the winter months of 1834-1835 and 1835-1836 in Berlin, where he worked at court and was made an extraordinary professor of the Prussian Royal Academy of Arts.
Due to failing health, Lory spent the winter months of 1841-1842 and 1842-1843 in Nice. In 1846, he visited Frankfurt am Main. A few weeks later, he died of a heart attack.

Provenance: auction house Laurent Dupont, Chatou, France, sale on October, 20, 2024

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Condition: good

Creation Year: 1834/36

Measurements: UNFRAMED:27,5x30,9cm/10,8x12,2in FRAMED: 31,3x34,5cm/12,3x13,6in

Object Type: Framed watercolor

Style: 19th century paintings

Technique: watercolor on paper (painted in oval on rectangular sheet of paper)

Inscription: signed: "G.Lory fils d'apres Sulzer"

Creator: Mathias Gabriel Lory the Younger

Creator Dates: 1784 Bern-1846 ibd.

Nationality: Swiss