La Tour painting on loan from Lviv gallery is part of major exhibition (10/20/96)

La Tour painting on loan from Lviv gallery is part of major exhibition

by Ika Koznarska Casanova

WASHINGTON - The first major exhibition to be presented in the United States devoted to the works of Georges de La Tour (1593-1652), one of the greatest painters of the 17th century, is currently on view at the National Gallery of Art.

The exhibition "Georges de La Tour and His World," contains 32 major paintings by or attributed to La Tour from collections around the world. It is the largest group of works by La Tour to be assembled at one time since the pioneering retrospective held in Paris 25 years ago.

Among lenders to the exhibition is the Lviv Picture Gallery in Ukraine (founded 1907), which has collections in Western European, Ukrainian and Eastern European art.

On loan is the work "The Payment of Taxes," originally titled "Lichwiarze" (U Lykhwarya - At the Moneylender's). The canvas measures 99 by 152 centimeters; it is signed and illegibly dated.

"The Payment of Taxes" is a night scene illuminated by candlelight, whose subject is an elderly man paying a debt or tax to the tough-looking group gathered around him, under somewhat stressful and even threatening circumstances.

The work reportedly belonged to the collection of General Charles Eugene Lambesc (1754-1825) of the House of Lorraine, and the last husband of Anna Cetner of Lviv. At the beginning of the 19th century the work was bequeathed to Lukasz Dombski (1751-1824) of Lviv; it was attributed to the Dutch painter Gerrit von Honthorst and titled "Lichwiarze." In the late 1820s it passed to the Ossolinski Museum as part of the Dombski collection, and in 1929-1930, it was once again in Lviv at the Lubomirski Museum. The work was acquired by the Lviv State Picture Gallery in 1940, where it was attributed to the Flemish painter Theodore Rombouts.

The work was first attributed to La Tour by Russian scholar Maria Shcherbatchova in 1953, whose findings were posthumously published in 1970.

La Tour is one of the most original French painters of the 17th century whose art was quickly forgotten after his death and has been rediscovered only in the early 20th century. The obscurity in which La Tour's art has remained for almost three centuries has made it difficult to reconstruct his career, including the chronology of his work. Only two paintings by La Tour bear dates, and both come from the last few years of the artist's life. Therefore, most of his artistic development has to be constructed on the basis of stylistic and historical considerations.

Scholars differ as to when "The Payment of Taxes" was painted. In the catalogue accompanying the U.S. exhibit, where authors propose different dates and interpretations for particular paintings, "The Payment of Taxes" is dated c. 1618-1620 and is considered La Tour's earliest work, whereas eastern scholars tend to attribute the work to the artist's later period, c. 1641-1642.

"The Payment of Taxes" was previously part of a major exhibition devoted to La Tour held in Paris in 1972 and in Nancy in 1992. The work formed part of the exhibit "Caravaggio and the Followers of Caravaggio from Collections in the Soviet Union," held at the Hermitage in 1974.

The current exhibit builds on new scholarship, scientific research (advances in conservation technology and radiography) and even recently discovered works by the master.

La Tour's work demonstrates his brilliant handling of subjects both sacred and profane. His treatment of subjects drawn from everyday life is characterized by uncompromising observation and realistic scrutiny. This penetrating observation of the world around him is also brought to bear on specific religious themes. La Tour met the increased demand for religious art with profound insight and a special intensity of vision. His art has been described as meditative, beautiful, and profoundly humane in its vision.

La Tour is best known, in his own time, as in ours, for nocturnal scenes with dramatic effects of illumination, the so-called tenebrist style, or chiaroscuro.

The curator for "Georges de La Tour and His World" is Philip Conisbee, curator of French paintings at the National Gallery of Art.

Borys Voznytsky, director of the Lviv Picture Gallery, was in Washington at the invitation of the National Gallery of Art for the opening of the exhibit. Also present was Roman Fedyna, general curator of the gallery.

"Georges de La Tour and His World" opened October 6 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington and is on view through January 5, 1997. The exhibit then goes to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, co-organizer of the exhibit, where it will run from February 2 to May 11, 1997.