Rating and value of paintings by Alexandre Cabanel

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Rating and value of the artist Alexandre Cabanel

Mostly creating paintings of History, Alexandre Cabanel is a French painter, sculptor, engraver and sculptor.

This prolific painter is now relatively well regarded on the art market, with his less prestigious works selling for €10, rising exponentially to €768,000.

A painting entitled La naissance de Vénus, depicting the goddess and cherubs, sold for €768,000, while it was estimated at €410,000 and €614,500.

Order of value from a simple work to the most prestigious

Artist's style and technique

Alexandre Cabanel (1823 - 1889) was a major figure in 19th-century French academic painting. His preferred medium was oil on canvas, in the academic tradition. He sometimes made preparatory drawings in pencil, charcoal or chalk, and sometimes in wash, to define composition and gesture.

His palette is rich and nuanced, with a predilection for pearly, vaporous and luminous tones. His drawing is rigorous and precise, a legacy of his training at the École des Beaux-Arts under Picot.

His application of successive glazes is meticulous, giving a smooth, polished rendering with no visible impasto. The execution is characterized by a meticulous finish, the surfaces are perfectly blended and the transitions between light and shade are imperceptible.

The work on complexions is particularly refined, they appear idealized and diaphanous. Compositions are often horizontal and balanced, inherited from classical models. The staging is often theatrical, with a clear hierarchy between foreground (main figures) and background (narrative or landscape setting).

He frequently uses studied poses and complex drapery, inherited from the classical and Renaissance traditions. His depictions of the human figure are idealized, often feminine, with a search for anatomical perfection.

His aesthetic is academic and neoclassical, tinged with romantic idealism. He specialized in allegorical or mythological female nudes, characterized by controlled sensuality, as in Naissance de Vénus.

His style is marked by a balance between realism of anatomy and idealism of form, and chiaroscuro is prominent, soft and graduated, helping to create an ethereal atmosphere.

Glazes are superimposed to obtain translucent complexions and a rendering " pâte de verre ", with a mastery of drapery effects, which are silky, brilliant, with vibrant colors, reinforcing the theatrical aspect.

Perspective is mastered, but often attenuated in favor of the monumentality of the figures. Cabanel embodied the official academic art of the Second Empire, appreciated by Napoleon III and the Parisian elite.

He placed himself in stylistic opposition to the avant-garde (Courbet's realism, impressionism) and defended an aesthetic of the ideal and refinement. His works are emblematic of the tension between academic tradition and protest modernity in the 19th century.

Alexandre Cabanel, his life, his work

Alexandre Cabanel (1823 - 1889) was born in Montpellier, into a modest family. He showed an early talent for drawing, supported by local patrons. In 1840, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he was a pupil of Charles Gleyre and then above all of François-Édouard Picot.

He was trained in the academic tradition, with a discipline centered on drawing, mythology and history. In 1845, he won the Prix de Rome and stayed at the Villa Medici. In Italy, he discovered Renaissance art (Raphael, Michelangelo), which had a lasting influence on his style.

On his return to Paris, he began exhibiting at the Salon, where his works were noted for their academic perfection. In 1863, he triumphed at the Salon with The Birth of Venus, purchased by Napoleon III for Empress Eugénie.

He became one of the preferred painters of the imperial court and Parisian high society, and multiplied his official commissions (decorations, state portraits, large-scale historical canvases). As a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris, he trained a large number of students, including both academic artists and future independents. His influence on the academic system is considerable (Salon jury, role in the selection of the Prix de Rome.

He is an advocate of noble, idealized art, in opposition to the realism of Courbet and the Impressionists. His works are dominated by mythological, religious and historical subjects.

His reputation is international thanks to his idealized female nudes, and his embodiments of academic elegance. He was a portraitist sought after by the elite, and imposed an aesthetic of grace and distinction.

Alexandre Cabanel continued to exhibit regularly until his death in 1889. At the time of his death, he was considered one of the greatest academic painters of his century. Nevertheless, his prestige rapidly declined in the face of the rise of the Impressionist and Naturalist avant-garde.

Today, Cabanel is being rediscovered as an emblematic figure of 19th-century academicism, and a witness to the tensions between tradition and modernity.

Market segmentation and artist's price

Alexandre Cabanel is now recognized as a major figure of 19th-century French academicism. He has a regular presence on the international market, notably in Paris, London and New York.

His stock is boosted by the rediscovery of academic painters and growing interest in the great masters of the Second Empire. Great mythological nudes such as the Birth of Venus are extremely rare at auction. Their heritage value is very high.

History paintings and allegories constitute a high-end segment, which can exceed €500,000 depending on subject and provenance. He produced an abundant output of portraits, often of high society; this is an intermediate segment, with estimates ranging from €50,000 to €200,000.

Academic drawings and studies are a more accessible market, generally fetching between €5,000 and €20,000, depending on size, subject and quality of execution. The record set for the artist reached almost €800,000.

Fine female portraits regularly sell for between €80,000 and €150,000, and secondary religious and historical works trade for between €30,000 and €70,000. Preparatory drawings and sketches sometimes fetch €10,000 to €20,000, sometimes more if they are linked to well-known masterpieces.

Mythological nudes and female portraits are therefore the most sought-after. Works from prestigious collections or presented at official Salons command a significant premium, while large academic formats fetch higher prices than modest-sized canvases.

The state of preservation is decisive for 19th-century works, especially those with delicate glazes. His rating is comparable to Bouguereau or Henner, but is below Gérôme, who is more sought-after on the Anglo-Saxon market.

Institutional and collector interest in this type of painting is growing.

Recognizing the artist's signature

Alexandre Cabanel signs his works with his full name in a cursive, graphic script with a clean, assertive pencil stroke.

Know the value of a work

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