In search of Lebel: two attractive eighteenth-century fetes galantes in the National Gallery of Ireland are signed simply 'J. Lebel', an otherwise unidentified French painter. Martin Eidelberg sifts through the many artists with that surname and proposes a solution to the puzzle

Apollo, Sept, 2004 by Martin Eidelberg

Hidden within these documents is what may be another interesting aspect of this artist. His wife's maiden name, Anne Louise Simpol, suggests that she may have been related to the famed printmaker Claude Simpol (c. 1666-1716). This would be extremely significant. Simpol's engravings, like those of such contemporaries as Bernard Picart and various members of the Bonnart family, have long fascinated historians because their lively approach to genre subjects was quite innovatory at the turn of the eighteenth century; indeed, they forecast developments in the art of Watteau and other French painters. Analogies between the two media have been forwarded, but it has proven difficult to establish direct links between the two worlds. How interesting it would be if Jean-Baptiste Lebel proved to be related to Claude Simpol, perhaps even his son-in law. We tend to forget how closely these artistic circles were bound (for example, the famed Rubeniste theoretician Roger de Piles stood as godfather to one of Bernard Picart's children). Reestablishing the context within which these artists lived and worked would shed light on the actual way that art was stimulated by societal bonds.

Clearly we are but at the beginning of a journey, as the career of Jean-Baptiste Lebel is far from being recovered. The few works that are discussed here are merely the first indications of what was undoubtedly a much more substantial oeuvre. Hidden among the paintings and drawings wrongly attributed to Pater, Octavien, and Watteau's other satellites, as well as among the many anonymous works that survive from the early eighteenth century, are undoubtedly a good number which will prove to be from the hand of Jean-Baptiste Lebel, an artist who still remains but a vague outline.

(1) As always, I am indebted to Dr. Eliot W. Rowlands for his good ideas and careful editing, as well as his cheerful encouragement.

(2) Sale, Andrew Hay, London, 1738, 1st day, lot 32; recorded in J. and R. Houlditch, Sale Catalogues of the Principal Collections of Pictures Sold by Auction in England within the Years 1711-1759, 2 vols., London, c. 1760 National Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum, NS. 867, 8-1938, 2 vols., vol. I: p. 271.

(3) John Preston Neale, Views of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen, in England, Wales Scotland and Ireland, 6 vols. London, 1818-26, vol. III; also A Catalogue of Pictures belonging to the Earl of Milltown at Russborough. Dublin, 1863, p. 7, 'Music and Dancing by Lebel'.

(4) Deed of Gift of the Milltown Collection, 9. I am most grateful to Sara Donaldson of the National Gallery of Ireland for her assistance

(5) Catalogue of Pictures and Other Works of Art in the National Gallery of Ireland and the National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery of Art, Dublin, 1914, p. 499; idem, Catalogue of Pictures and Other Works Of Art in the National Gallery or Ireland, Dublin, 1928, p. 419. To confuse matters further, the 1914 and 1928 catalogues refer to works by Antoine Lebel as though he were the same artist The attribution to Clement is repeated in idem, Catalogue of Oil Pictures in the General Collection, Dublin, 1932, pp. 68-69; idem, Catalogue of the Paintings, Dublin, 1071, p. 97