Antoine MONNOYER (Paris, 1677 - Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 1745) Bouquet of flowers in a marble urn on a stone entablature Oil on canvas (Restorations) Bouquet of flowers in a marble urn on an entablature, oil on canvas, by A. Monnoyer 38.18 x 52,55 in. 97 x 133.5 cm Provenance: Anonymous sale; Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 29-30 March 2011, no. 314 (as Antoine Monnoyer) ; Private collection from the South of France Trained by his father Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer on the decoration sites of Burlington House and Kensington Palace, Antoine remained for a long time in the shadow of this naturally appointed master. The decline in the number of royal commissions at the end of Louis XIV's reign partly explains Antoine Monnoyer's itinerant career, from Denmark to Portugal, from Italy to England. Blin de Fontenay was favoured by Louis XIV, but it was with a commission for the king's cabinet at Trianon that our artist was admitted to the Académie in 1704. From 1717 to 1734, he lived in England; he ran after commissions to maintain his standard of living, his English biographer Vertue describing him as "leading a life of petty nobility". Our majestic flower arrangement certainly exudes nobility. It's an explosion of colour and masterful form that offers itself to the viewer, who loses himself in the details to the point of coming close enough to breathe in this generous painting. Claudia Salvi confirmed the authenticity of this work when it went on sale in 2011. Antoine MONNOYER (Paris, 1677 - Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 1745) 97 x 133.5 cm