Charles-Joseph Natoire

Probably, Paris, Natoire Sale, 14 December 1778, lot 316, one of two drawings ('Deux compositions lavée et colorées, l'une représente Diane et Acteon, l'autre un sujet allégorique à la Religion');
sale, Paris, Christie's, 21 March 2002, lot 275;
with Artemis Fine Art, London
Private collection, New York

 

S. Caviglia-Brunel, Charles-Joseph Natoire, Corlet 2012, p. 501, no. R. 36, reproduced

Laid down on an old board, the sheet is overall in good condition. Slight oxidization in places, and a few very small stains, light brown, hardly noticeable. The chalk and watercolour are fresh.
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This drawing reflects Natoire's interest in Italian baroque artists whom he greatly admired throughout his life. There are clear echoes in his work of the style of artists such as Domenichino and Albani.  Contrary to what was suggested in the 2002 sale catalogue (see Provenance), it seems that Natoire here reworked a counterproof taken from one of his own drawings, rather than one by another artist.  

When Natoire returned to Paris in 1730, after five years in Rome, he became a friend of the collector Pierre-Jean Mariette who shared and encouraged his interest in Italian baroque painters by commissioning him to make copies after his Italian drawings, in particular those by baroque artists.  The specific interest in copies and their importance in the eighteenth century are reflected throughout Natoire's artistic life.¹  Having been appointed director of the French Academy in Rome in 1751, an office he held until his death in 1777, Natoire collected a large number of drawings.  It is well known that he often retouched drawings by other artists and most certainly he also acquired some for this purpose.  As rightly noted by Perrin Stein in her very informative article, this practice has sometimes led to confusion as to the attributions of such drawings.  She writes: 'Because the retouchings vary greatly in assertiveness, one hand or the other tends to predominate.'  In the present sheet there is enough stylistic evidence to claim that the artist is reworking one of his own counterproofs; what is still visible of the counterproof, for instance the head of the nymph to the left, looking directly at the viewer, definitely appears to be by Natoire himself.  The extensive reworking in red chalk has been enriched by coloured washes and by white and blue heightening, and in several places the chalk lines have been reinforced with pen and ink, creating a very pictorial overall effect.

1. P. Stein, 'Copies and Retouched Drawings by Charles-Joseph Natoire', Master Drawings, 38, no. 2, 2000, pp. 167-186, reproduced