Jean-Robert Ango

This fascinating and finely preserved red chalk drawing has, along with a small group of highly comparable works, see-sawed, attributionally speaking, between Jean Barbault (1718-1762) and his French contemporary, Jean-Robert Ango. In Nathalie Volle and Pierre Rosenberg’s exhibition on Barbault in 1974-75¹, three drawings relating to the French Academy masquerade of 1748 were included and given to Barbault. Subsequently further connected works including a red chalk counterproof of the present work, now in the collection of the Musée du Louvre,² came to light and were similarly published by Rosenberg as the work of Barbault.³ The argument for Barbault’s authorship lay primarily in the close parallels between the figures depicted and a series of paintings of similarly attired figures, by Barbault. Sarah Boyer has, however, subsequently made a compelling case for the attribution of this group to Ango and now includes this drawing within a corpus of five red chalk drawings and two red chalk counterproofs. Two of these, including the present work, are annotated in pen and ink: Angot and others, including Sultane Blanche,⁴ are inscribed in handwriting which accords with inscriptions on other drawings securely given to Ango.

1. See N. Volle and P. Rosenberg, Jean Barbault, exhib. cat., Beauvais, Angers and Valence, 1974-75

2. Paris, Musée du Louvre, inv. no. RF 361023.

3. See P. Rosenberg, "Quelques nouveautés sur Barbault," in Piranèse et les Français, Rome 1978, pp. 499-508

4. Sale, New York, Sotheby’s, 25 January 2002, lot 71