Circle of Pierre-Paul Prud'hon

Henri-Amedée, Marquis de la Ferronnays;
with Jean de Cayeux, Galerie Cailleux (L.4461)

Galerie Charpentier, Paris, Figures Nues d'École Française, 1953, no. 162

S. Laveissière, Prud'hon ou le rêve du bonheur, exhib. cat., Paris, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, 1997-8, p. 264, under no. 188

Hinge mounted. There is some very minor foxing and surface dirt throughout the sheet and two very narrow bands of discolouration to the upper and lower edges. There are a number of small pin prick holes to the lower and upper left corners and the centre right edge of the sheet. The medium remains reasonably fresh throughout.
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Long believed to be an autograph drawing by Prud'hon, this study shows a standing female nude, in a pose very close to that seen in a drawing by the artist in the collection of the British Museum.¹  Sylvain Laveissière, who dates the British Museum drawing circa 1810, considers that the present study was made on the same occasion as that in the British Museum, but by another artist who was present in the studio, standing just to Prud'hon's left.²  This suggestion would certainly explain the subtle differences in pose between the two drawings, which together offer a fascinating insight into Prud'hon's attitude towards académie drawing, which he continued to practise throughout his career, both for his own pleasure, and to serve as inspiration for his students.

1. London, The British Museum, inv. no. 1968,0210.18
2. Loc. cit.