Old Master Day Sale including Old Master Paintings, Drawings and British Works on Paper
Old Master Day Sale including Old Master Paintings, Drawings and British Works on Paper
Property from a New York Private Collection
Lot Closed
July 29, 02:09 PM GMT
Estimate
10,000 - 15,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property from a New York Private Collection
ÉTIENNE-CHARLES LEGUAY
Sèvres 1762 - 1846 Paris
JEUNE FILLE LISANT
Black, red and white chalk
unframed: 394 by 283 mm
framed: 591 by 470 mm
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Gustave Mühlbacker,
his sale, Paris, 13-15 May 1907, lot 84;
Marius Paulme (1863-1928), Paris (L.1910),
his sale, 14 May 1929, lot 128, reproduced, pl. 87;
Alexandre Ananoff (1910-1992), Paris (L.3365);
sale, Paris, 11 February 1979, lot 104;
with Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York,
where acquired in 1980
A. Ananoff, 'Les Cent Petits maîtres qu'il faut connaitre', Conniassance des Arts, July 1964, p. 51, reproduced;
'Les joies secrèters d'un Amateur de dessins', A.B.C. decor, December - January, 1969, reproduced p. 95
Paris, Les Petits-Maîtres du XVIIIe siècle, 1920, no. 336;
Copenhagen, Exposition de l'Art Français au Dix-huitième siècle, 1935, no. 421;
Grasse, Musée Fragonard, Femmes, 1962, no. 37, pl. IX;
London, Royal Academy of Arts, France in the 18th Century: Royal Academy of Arts, Winter Exhibition 1968, 1968, no. 422, fig. 316
Étienne-Charles Leguay was an artist whose versatility as a draughtsman has resulted in his surviving graphic oeuvre being broad and, at times, relatively undefined. He was most highly regarded during his lifetime for his refined portrait drawings, typically executed with great precision in black chalk with abundant stumping, a characteristic example of which was recently on the New York art market.1 This technique was clearly adapted from and indebted to his training as a miniaturist, a technique at which he also clearly excelled, as displayed in an exquisite Portrait of a Lady, recently sold from the celebrated Pohl-Ströher collection.2
The present work, drawn in a rich combination of trois crayons and handled with great spirit and confidence, is a significant departure from this miniaturist technique, showing a freedom and vitality of handling that is so often hidden in the artist's more highly finished works. The trois crayons technique also demonstrates Leguay’s intentions to continue this well-established and highly regarded French style of draughtsmanship, a manner passed down from such illustrious predecessors as Watteau and Portail to Greuze and Boucher.
Few drawings by Leguay of this quality and beauty have appeared on the market within the last twenty years, with the closest comparable drawing, depicting A Woman in a Red Dress, appearing on the London art market in 2002.3 This drawing, unlike the aforementioned work, is a far more complete and pleasing depiction, in which the remarkable freshness of the chalk allows the viewer to appreciate both the bold, decisive strokes made by the artist to define volume in the dress, while simultaneously shows such delicacy and refinement in the sitter’s face and in the plumage in her hat.
1. Sale, New York, Christie's, 30 January 2018, lot 91
2. Sale, London, Sotheby's, The Pohl-Ströher Collection of Portrait Miniatures Part II, 4 July 2019, lot 135
3. Sale, London, Christie's, 9 July 2002, lot 78