Vive L'Empereur! is a history painting made retrospectively by French artist Édouard Detaille in 1891, based upon the cavalry charge of the French 4th Hussars during the Battle of Friedland.[1] The actual battle had taken place on 14 June 1807, some 41 years before the artist's birth.[2][3]
The painting was purchased by the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1893, where it remains.[3] In 1959, the painting was damaged severely by water, but it was restored during the 2000s.[4]
In June 2014, the Art Gallery of New South Wales purchased Portrait of Édouard Detaille by Basile Lemeunier (1852–1922), which shows Detaille at work in his studio – painting Vive L'Empereur! – atop a wooden ladder with a lit cigarette in his mouth.[4] The portrait was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1891.
