Lot 96: La Montagne de L'Or Noire [Ouro Preto], Brésil

Henri Langerock (1830-1915)
La Montagne de L'Or Noire [Ouro Preto], Brésil
signed and dated 'LANGEROCK 1888.' (lower right), inscribed 'Par Langerock Ouro Preto sur La Serra da ... B[rigída(?)] à Minas Geraes (Brésil)' on the stretcher
oil on canvas
44 x 63½in. (111.7 x 161.3cm.)

The Belgian artist Henri Langerock worked in Brazil in the late 19th century. The exact dates of his stay in Brazil are unknown but he is recorded as residing in Rio de Janeiro in late 1886 until returning to Europe in 1890. Gilberto Ferrez lists five small Rio de Janeiro subjects (G. Ferrez, Iconografia do Rio de Janeiro 1530-1890 Catálogo Analítico , Rio de Janeiro, 2000, pp.669-70, nos 4174-4179) dating from 1881, but omits the larger canvases ('Arredores de Tijuca' 1881 and the undated 'Familia Real') in the collection of Sergio Sahione Fadel, for which, and for other Brazilian works by the artist, see 150 Anos de Pintura no Brasil 1820-1970 , Rio de Janeiro, 1989, pp.96-7. He was famous for his massive panorama of Rio de Janeiro (1886-88), painted together with Victor Meirelles, exhibited in Brussels in 1888 and subsequently in Paris (at the Exposition Universelle) in 1889 and Rio de Janeiro in 1891.

Ouro Preto, meaning 'black gold' (from the oxidised gold nuggets first found in the river Tripuí), is situated in the the Serra do Espinhaço mountains south eastern Brazil. It was as the centre of Brazil's gold rush in the 17th and 18th centuries and the district was mined extensively for its gold, hematite, dolomite, turmaline, pirite, moscovite, topaz and imperial topaz. The city was formerly known as Vila Rica (Rich Town), and was the first capital of the State of Minas Gerais (1822-1897).

The town attracted artists and architects (the 'Barroco Mineiro'), including the great baroque sculptor Aleijhadino, and its richly decorated Baroque churches survive.