Art news
A book of art and emotion
To lovers of the Rhône and its painters
Gérard Carret and Pierre Mouriquand are pleased to announce the publication of "Rhône and its Painters," published by Jacques André Editeur.
The perspectives of 170 painters from the Rhône invite you on a pictorial journey down the river—a décize in mariner's language—from the Alps to the Mediterranean.
Through the eyes of the artists who observed and painted the lights of the ever-changing regions that border its banks, you will follow the thread of the Rhône from its source to the Big Blue in a sentimental and timeless geography. Through Switzerland, Savoie, Bugey, Dombes, Lyon, the Rhône Valley, Avignon and the Camargue, this journey illustrated by a selection of 271 paintings, allows you to meet nearly 170 painters from different generations, known or lesser known, all attached to the great river.
These portraits of the Rhône constitute a biography, recounting its history and transformations. This book brings together works often hidden among collectors or in regional museums, and offers them to your view.
A subscription will open in September and October 2025, allowing you to purchase this book for €43. The retail price will be €55 from November (including shipping).
A Tournon's sculptor under auction
DELHOMME LEON ALEXANDRE (1841-1895)
On June 20, 2025, the Thierry de Maigret auction house presented a work by the Tournon-based artist Léon-Alexandre Delhomme under auction number 161.
It was a terracotta statuette entitled "Maternity," estimated at €300-500.
Léon-Alexandre Delhomme was born in Tournon on July 20, 1841, son of Jean-Joseph, a farmer, and Marie-Henriette Escoffier, a stay-at-home mother. He died in Paris on April 17, 1895.
An unpublished portrait of Cardinal de TOURNON
GIOVANNI CAPASSINI (Florence, around 1510-Tournon, around 1579) PORTRAIT OF CARDINAL FRANÇOIS DE TOURNON (1489-1562)
This previously unseen panel, offered by auctioneer Mr. Tajan, is an important example of portraiture in France in the mid-16th century. It was painted in Lyon around 1555.
The painting is similar to a work held in a private collection, reproduced in the catalog of the exhibition "Lyon Renaissance. Arts and Humanism," Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, 2015-2016, and also Camille Larraz, "Giovanni Capassini and Etienne de Martellange (architect who designed the plans for the chapel of the Tournon high school), portrait painters of the Rhône Valley."
Born in Florence, where he was probably a student of Andrea del Sarto, Capassini moved to France in 1553 to serve Cardinal François de Tournon, whom he had met in Rome. The latter had been Archbishop of Lyon since 1551 and was a prominent member of the Council of King Francis I and later Henry II.
This patron and model of our panel is depicted in profile in the right panel of the Resurrection Triptych, at the Château de Tournon, which is our artist's masterpiece. Mentioned in Lyon from 1555 to 1568, he was the master of Étienne de Martellange, a well-known architect, but also a painter, between 1565 and 1568. In addition to his religious compositions, a small number of portraits by Capassini are known, including the one in the Calvet Museum in Avignon, signed and dated 1577.
The Saint Barthelemey de Grozon parchment
Large parchment roll from the mid-15th century, approximately 120 x 69 cm. In Latin and French.
Decree of November 26, 1453, establishing, in Garauzon, in the "country of Viveroys," a market "every Friday of the year" and a fair "on the first of May of each year." On the back, this ancient note: "Letters patent for the establishment of the fairs and markets of Grozon."
This is Saint-Barthélemy-de-Grozon (Ardèche), whose Grozon Castle (called Garauzon or Garanson until the 18th century) was a stronghold and a former Templar stronghold; the village is mentioned as early as the 12th century.
In 1358, King John the Good of France granted Grozon the privilege of exemption from all taxes.
Sculpture by Gaston Dintrat
Shepherd and his flock, patinated plaster signed on the base. Height: 47 cm – Width: 79 cm – Depth: 21.5 cm.
A rare sculture by Gaston Dintrat has been auctioned on May 21, 2025, at Quai des Enchères in Macon, with a low estimate of €80 to €120. The subject depicts a shepherd, his dog, and his sheep. A donkey grazes at his feet.
Dintrat was born in Valence on May 10, 1889. He died in La Roche de Glun, where he lived in a former bargemen's inn from 1948 to 1964, the date of his death. He was a master craftsman nicknamed "the Virtue of Valence" by his companions. He settled in Paris, where he studied under Auguste Rodin.
In Tain, Albéric Guironnet, the founder of the Valrhona chocolate factory, built a tasting cabaret in collaboration with Marc Chapoutier. Gaston Dintrat (1889-1964) was responsible for the interior decoration, which he designed in the style of the Middle Ages, with sculptures and reproductions such as the portrait of Diane de Poitiers.
He created a large number of war memorials, in Romans, Bourg-de-Péage, Voiron, and of course the famous monument erected in Jouvet Park in Valence. He is responsible for the sculpture "The Rhône" in the base of the wall of the Prefecture in Valence and the 1920 war memorial in Tain-l'Hermitage, "The Poilu with the Flag."
He was admitted to the Académie Drômoise in 1957.
The Calvin cup
The so-called Calvin cup, which the pastor used to celebrate the Lord's Supper during his stay at Poët-Célard in the Drôme region in August 1561, was sold at auction in April 2025 at Tessier and Sarrou, auctioneers in Paris.
This cup is a testament to the martyrdom of Protestants during the Wars of Religion in France. It is of major historical importance due to the role it played in France, particularly in the Drôme region.
Calvin left Geneva to offer his support to the Reformed communities suffering persecution. He stopped at the Château de Poët-Célard, which housed Protestant soldiers. They wanted to take advantage of the pastor's presence to renew their oath. It was in this setting that Calvin celebrated the Last Supper with this cup as a chalice. The cup remained preciously preserved in the same family until the Revolution. During this time, Pierre Joseph Louis de Blaïn de Marcel, Marquis de Poët-Célard, managed to hide to escape the scaffold thanks to the complicity of François Descours. To thank him, the Marquis offered him the cup, as precious as the Holy Grail!
It then passed to his only daughter, wife of Monsieur de Saulces de Latour, Justice of the Peace, before being passed on to their daughter, wife of the famous Alexis Muston, whom the family had taken in. The cup was passed down from daughter to daughter until the current lineage.
Calvin, in support of the Protestant community in Drôme, had taken remote routes to avoid the royal troops. He arrived, passing through the Diois massif, at the recently completed Château de Poët-Célard, where Protestants sought refuge during the persecutions. The Protestant Museum in Poët-Laval preserves the image of this cup as evidence of the persecutions and the testimonies of Pastor Muston.
Sources : la gazette Drouot.
Germain Bonneton
In April 2025, a painting by Germain Bonneton, a painter from Tournon, was auctioned at Drouot. It is a beautiful view depicting the Seine and barges loading containers.
Germain Bonneton (1874-1914/1915) The Quays Oil on canvas (relined) Signed lower right 26.5 x 40.5 cm.
Blaise Pascal
A book from the Tournon High School sold in Manosque on February 5, 2025
Blaise Pascal, the great French philosopher, wrote his thoughts, which were published after his death.
A copy from 1670 was sold with the inscription: "For the use of the Military School of Tournon en Vivarais." It should be remembered that this was the Tournon High School, which had a military succession attached to the military school of Paris.
Joséphus Genissière
On the inside page is the prize sheet IN COLLEGIO TURNONENSI awarded in 1679 to the student Joséphus Genissière and signed by Professor Franc Ligier.
Price: €700
A prize book from the Jesuit College of Tournon was recently auctioned in Holland. The royal arms of France on the cover indicate its donation. It is a work by Aristophanes, printed in Greek in Paris in 1549, with a new version following, dedicated to Queen Joanna of Navarre.
Tournon was an important intellectual center thanks to its lords and the royal college. A printing press was established in the late 16th century.
One of these books was recently auctioned: "Images of the Ancient Gods Containing Idols, Customs, Ceremonies, and Other Things Belonging to the Religion of the Pagans," translated by Antoine du Verdier, Lord of Vaupriuas.
Published in Tournon by Claude Michel, 1606, full-leather binding, 804 pages.
