Lot 224: Pierre-Louis-Léger Vauthier (French, 1845-1916)

Inauguration de la première pierre du Pont d'Alexandre III à l'occasion de l'Exposition Universelle de 1900
signed 'Pierre Vauthier' (lower left)
oil on canvas
67 x 89 in. (170.2 x 226.1 cm.)

Pierre-Louis-Léger Vauthier was born in Pernambuco in 1845 of French parents. A student of Lalanne, he debuted at the Salon in 1874, and was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1895.

This painting depicts the ceremony celebrating the laying of the cornerstone for the Pont Alexander III in Paris. The bridge was dedicated to the Franco-Russian alliance of 1893 and named in honor of Czar Alexander III who signed the treaty in that year. The cornerstone was laid on 7 October 1896 by Czar Nicolas II, and the Czarina, with President Felix Faure of France in attendance, and the construction of the bridge was completed in time for the 1900 Exposition Universelle, when the bridge was inaugurated.

A reporter for the New York Times (October 8, 1896, p. 1, col. 2) recounted the event in great detail:

'The Czar and Czarina and President Faure then left the tribune on which they stood, M. Boucher (the Minister of Commerce) guiding them. M. Boucher presented a trowel and hammers to the Czar and Czarina, who successively struck blows upon the plate closing the cavity in the stone. A squad of sailors then hoisted the French and Russian colors upon the mast above the marquee, while the guns of the Hôtel des Invalides thundered a salvo of twenty-one guns. The military bands played, while from the left bank of the Seine a beflowered boat started conveying forty maidens with a present for the Czarina of a chiseled silver vase enriched with jewels and a magnificent bouquet.'