- 189
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
Description
- Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
- Portrait of Jean Racine, Full Length, Standing in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles
- Pencil and brown wash;
signed and dated in pencil, lower right: J. Ingres 1845
Provenance
by descent to his son, Albert Jacobe de Naurois;
with Kunsthandel Thomas le Claire, Hamburg;
sale, Paris, Piasa, 26 March 2003, lot 103
Literature
Condition
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
This exceptionally refined, highly finished drawing is one of three studies by Ingres that can be associated with the portrait of Racine for this project, the other two of which are in the Musée de Montauban.1 Compositionally, the Riklis drawing is most closely linked to the second of these Montauban studies, in which Ingres also shows Racine with a sword, a detail notably absent from the other drawing.
The level of finish seen here is, however, higher than in either of the two Montauban studies, with Ingres progressing from the black chalk he so often uses for his preparatory works into graphite, thus enabling him to create a sensitive and accurate portrayal of Racine, while also generating the superbly precise and detailed lines required for the architectural and perspectival elements that are so important to his composition.
Ingres has chosen to portray Racine in the magnificent Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles, a particularly inspired choice of setting given that Racine, along with the poet Nicolas Boileau, was responsible for the texts that accompany Charles Le Brun’s celebrated series of paintings in the Hall - a monumental homage to Louis XIV and his military victories in the Dutch Wars of the 1660s and '70s.
1. Inv. nos. 867.2643 and 867.2644; G. Vigne, Dessins d'Ingres, Catalogue raisonné des dessins du musée de Montauban, Paris 1995, pp. 430-31, nos. 2437 & 2438, reproduced