Francesco Fontebasso

Sale, London, Christie's, 4 July 1984, lot 56;
with Colnaghi & Co., London; acquired in 1984

Gainesville, et al., 1991-93, no. 33

Marina Magrini, 'Francesco Fontebasso: i disegni', Saggi e memorie di storia dell'arte, vol. 17, 1990, p. 176, no. 42

Laid down along edges, open at back. Surface dirt, small bit made up at top left corner. Crease in paper - probably in manufacture - from eye of top head up into hair. Top right corner must have been folded at some point. Some wear at edges, particularly left. Paper is very fine. Chalk strong and clear.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This drawing is a particularly sensitive and well preserved example of Fontebasso's black chalk figure studies, which are rather rarer than his drawings in pen and ink.  The immediacy of the characterisation and vivacity of the handling confirm that these studies must surely have been drawn from life. Such studies were sometimes used by the artist as the basis for figures in his paintings, but more often than not, no such connections can be established.  Like so many of the more prolific draughtsmen of his time -- one thinks immediately of the Tiepolos in this context -- Fontebasso undoubtedly made far more figure studies than he could ever directly use in his paintings.  These studies would have been kept in the studio, to serve as a repertoire of figures and poses that the artist and his assistants could consult as needed. When this drawing was sold at Christie's in 1984, the previous lot was a very similar sheet of black chalk studies of a child's head, the same size as this, and it is tempting to conclude that both sheets were made at about the same time, and remained together during the intervening centuries.