Master Works on Paper from Five Centuries

Master Works on Paper from Five Centuries

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 51. Studies of hands.

French School, 18th Century

Studies of hands

Auction Closed

January 26, 04:31 PM GMT

Estimate

8,000 - 12,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

French School, 18th Century

Studies of hands


Red and black chalk with stumping, heightened with white chalk, on blue paper

260 by 490 mm; 10¼ by 19¼ in.

Marquis de Biron,
his sale, Paris, 9-11 June 1914, no. 62 (as Carle Vanloo)

This aesthetically pleasing, robustly drawn, large sheet of studies of three hands, one holding flowers, is both charming and accomplished. Though presumably preparatory for a painting, the mise en page is very appealing, making this a satisfying work in its own right.


No specific connection with a painting, or definitive attribution, has so far proved possible, but there are similarities in handling with drawings by François Le Moyne, in particular his Study of two arms, one of them holding a bow, of circa 1725-29, in the Musée du Louvre, Paris.1 The Louvre drawing, also executed in trois crayons, shares with this sheet a comparable approach to shading and lightness of touch.


The present sheet was once owned by the celebrated collector, the Marquis de Biron (see Provenance), who was the uncle of another eminent French collector, The Duc de Talleyrand (see lots 29-34).


1. J-L Bordeaux, François Le Moyne and his Generation 1688-1737, Neuilly-sur-Seine 1984, cat. no. D. 111, reproduced fig. 238