Lot 170
  • 170

Louis-Jean Desprez

Estimate
10,000 - 15,000 USD
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Description

  • Louis-Jean Desprez
  • Costume design
  • Pen and gray ink and watercolour over black chalk;
    bears lettering throughout the figure accompanied by a key inscribed along the right margin with colour specifications, also bears an indistinct inscription in pen and brown ink, lower right

Condition

Laid down. Window mounted on the recto with blue paper mount. Some gray stains/splashes along the left margin, possibly studio stains. Sheet has slightly yellowed with some surface dirt. Overall in good condition, watercolour remains strong and vibrant.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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.

Catalogue Note

Desprez studied in Paris under the draughtsman and engraver Charles Nicolas Cochin.  His early work shows the influence of the etchings of Stefano della Bella and Jacques Callot.  Shortly after being awarded the Grand Prix de Rome in 1777, he was commissioned to help with the illustrations to the Abbé de Saint-Non's Voyage Pittoresque, ou description des royaumes de Naples et de Sicile, along with a number of other young French artists, including Claude Louis Châtelet.

In 1783 Desprez's work was brought to the attention of the Swedish King, Gustav III, who was looking for someone to take charge of the stage decorations for the historical dramas he was then planning.  The King made Desprez an extremely generous offer, and the artist moved to Sweden in 1784.  There, despite initially primitive working conditions and much resentment from the resident Swedish artists, his first designs for the première performance of Queen Christina were a sensation, and for ten years he continued to produce magnificent set designs, architectural plans and historical paintings.

It has not been possible to connect the present costume design to a particular figure in a play, but it has been suggested that it may have been a design for the tragedy Semiramis by Voltaire, which was performed at Drottningholm Court Theatre in the 1780s in a production by Desprez.

Other very comparable examples of costume designs by Desprez are in the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, where they were exhibited in 1992.1

1. Louis Jean Desprez, Tecknare, Theaterkonstnär, Arkitekt, exhib.cat., Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, 1992, nos. 62, 65a, 65b, 65c and 66