Jean-Baptiste Greuze

Vicomte de Pluvinel, Paris,
his sale, Paris, 19-20 April 1830, lot 79;
sale, Paris, 21 March 1840, lot 56;
with Wildenstein and Co., New York, from whom acquired in 1966 by Emile E. Wolf, New York,
thence by descent

Cambridge, Massachusetts, Fogg Art Museum/Malibu, J. Paul Getty Museum/Montreal, Museum of Fine Arts, Louis XIII - Louis XVI:  French Drawings from a Private Collection, 1980, p. 23, 130-31, no. 45;
Tampa Museum, Louis XIII - Louis XVI:  French Drawings from a Private Collection, 1982;
Hartford, Connecticut, the Wadsworth Atheneum/San Francisco, The California Palace of the Legion of Honour/Dijon, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Jean-Baptiste Greuze 1725-1805, 1976-7, no. 78

Jean Martin & C. Masson, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint et dessiné de Jean-Baptiste Greuze, Paris 1905, nos. 92, 98
Anita Brookner, 'Aspects of Neo-Classicism in French Painting,' Apollo, vol. LXVII, September 1958, p. 70, fig. VIII

Laid down. The paper colour has evenly faded to a tan colour. Some abrasions at the edges, but condition otherwise generally good. Sold in a decorative antique French-style frame.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

As Edgar Munhall pointed out in the 1976 exhibition catalogue, the theme, of a melancholy young woman communing with an absent husband or lover who is present only in the form of a portrait bust, is one known from other works by the artist, such as The Incolsolable Widow, of 1763, in the Wallace Collection.  He suggests, though, that the drawing should actually be dated later than this, perhaps to the mid-1770s, on grounds of the style of the architecture and decorations.  Indeed, the handling in the drawing can also be compared with still later works, and is very similar to that seen in the 1785 compositional study, The Torn-Up Will, in a private collection.¹ 

Shortly before his death, the late Edgar Munhall kindly reconfirmed the attribution.  

^1. E. Munhall, Greuze the Draftsman, exh. cat., New York, The Frick Collection/Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2002, pp. 216-7, no. 77