Beschreibung:

Portrait de l'Empereur de Russie Paul 1er» Gravure aquarellée avec un rehaut de gouache. Sous-verre, cadre en bois doré à semi d'étoiles. 41,5 X 28 cm. Biographie: Paul 1er de Russie, né le 1er Octobre 1754, assassiné le 23 Mars 1801 est empereur de Russie. Il a occupé également les fonctions de facto de Grand Maître de l'ordre de Saint Jean de Jérusalem entre 1798 et 1801. Face aux victoires de la France, Paul 1er rejoint le camp des ennemis de la France révolutionnaire. La Russie entre en guerre contre la France en tant que membre de la deuxième coalition dont Paul 1er est le principal artisan et qui comprend également la Grande Bretagne, l'Autriche, le Royaume de Naples, le Portugal et l'Empire Ottoman. Malgré des succès en Italie et en suisse, Paul 1er ne peut envahir la France, battu par Masséna en Suisse. En Hollande, le général Brune contraint les Austro-russes à déposer les armes. Mécontent de l'attitude de l'Autriche et de la grande Bretagne qui n'ont pas suffisamment soutenu les troupes russes dans les Pays-Bas, Paul 1er se retire de la coalition. En 1800, il change de camp et se rapproche de la France, considérant la prise du pouvoir par Bonaparte comme un gage de stabilité. Dans la nuit du 23 Mars 1801, Paul 1er est assassiné par un groupe d'ex-officiers menés par le général Bennigsen, un Hanovrien au service de la Russie. Il oblige l'empereur à signer son abdication, mais devant son refus il est frappé, étranglé et piétiné à mort... L'un des meurtrier, le général Nicolas Zoubov, annonce à Alexandre 1er, qui réside au Palais, son accession au trône. Provenance: Christie's East, Napoleonica, New-York, 19 may 1998, n° 220, p.52. Australia's Michael Kroger chose to sell his collection in France - at Fontainebleau (n°1 à 86) Michael Norman Kroger is a man with great strength of character, passionate convictions and an extraordinary personality - all of which have helped him become a key figure in one of Australia's leading political parties, and to achieve considerable professional success. He was imbued from childhood with fierce determination, and soon proved his mettle. As a law student at Monash University - where he graduated in 1979 - he decided to join the Liberal Party of Australia, becoming President of the campus Liberal Club. The Liberal Party, situated to the centre-right of the Australian political map, calls for a revival of liberal thought and improvements to social justice and security: precepts - notably those of individual liberty and free enterprise - which correspond to Kroger's own entrepreneurial character. Along with his friend Peter Costello (later a brilliant lawyer and one of the leaders of the Liberal Party) he forged an alliance with moderate Australian Labour Party politicians to defeat the left-wing within the Australian Union of Students. This led to him becoming President of the Australian Liberal Students' Federation in 1978. Kroger's political career took off. He pursued his rise within the party and, aged just 30, was elected President of the Victoria Division of the Liberal Party of Australia, a post he would hold until 1992, becoming the longestserving President in the Division's history. He implemented a series of reforms, notably increasing the power of the party executive in pre-selections. While deeply involved in State affairs - he was also a member of the party's federal executive from 1987-92, and President of the Melbourne Liberal Group from 2003-06 - Kroger also excelled in the private sector, both as a Director of ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) for five years (1998-2003), and as President of JT Campbell & C°, the investment company he founded in 1993. He owes his social success to his personal skills and strength of character. As well as being a brilliant businessman and adroit politician, Michael Kroger also possesses a thorough grounding in art, and is especially knowledgeable of everything pertaining to Napoleon Bonaparte, for whom he admit a ready fascinati