Antoine Watteau

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Antoine Watteau

1684-1721

Study of a Young Man Seen from the Back and a Study of a Right Arm

ca. 1717

Black, red, and white chalk, on light brown paper.

8 3/16 x 9 inches (208 x 227 mm)

Thaw Collection.

2000.56

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Notes:

This crisp study of an elegantly posed young man is executed en trois crayons--with black, red, and white chalks--a technique perfected by Watteau. Like many other sketches from life made by the artist, this study was later used in conjunction with a painted work, the Scale of Love in the National Gallery of London. The figure of the seated young man in fine attire seen from behind, however, appears in other study sheets and painted compositions by the artist, as it was a favorite motif in Watteau's repertoire. -- Exhibition Label, from "Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection"

Provenance:

Sir Thomas Lawrence (Lugt 2445); Andrew James; his daughter, Sarah Ann James, London; her sale, London, Christie's, 22-3 June 1891, lot 300; Camille Groult (1832-1908), Paris; his son, Jean Groult (1868-1951), Paris; his son, Pierre Bordeaux-Groult (1916-2007); sale, Paris, Palais Galleria, 30 March 1963, no. 17, repr. color; Henri Farman, Paris; sale, Paris, Palais Galliera, 15 March 1973, lot G, repr.; Otto Wertheimer, Paris and Zurich (Rosenberg and Prat state that the drawing belonged to Anne Wertheimer, Paris, instead); Eugene Victor and Clare Thaw.

Associated names:

Lawrence, Thomas, Sir, 1769-1830, former owner.
James, Andrew, ca. 1857, former owner.
James, Sarah Ann, former owner.
Groult, Camille, 1832-1908, former owner.
Groult, Jean, 1868-1951, former owner.
Bordeaux-Groult, Pierre, 1916-2007, former owner.
Farman, Henri, former owner.
Wertheimer, Otto, 1896-1973, former owner.
Wertheimer, Anne, 1898-1981, former owner.
Thaw, Eugene Victor, former owner.
Thaw, Clare, former owner.

Bibliography:

The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY, "Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection", 2017. Exh. cat., no. 398, repr.
Denison, Cara D. et al. Drawings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Victor Thaw. Part II. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1985, no. 9, repr. (also in Thaw III, no. 35)
Denison, Cara D. French Master Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1993, no. 35, repr. in color.
Denison, Cara D. et al. From Mantegna to Picasso : Drawings from the Thaw Collection at the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York. London : Royal Academy of Arts ; New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1996, no. 22, repr. in color.
Rosenberg, Pierre and Louis-Antoine Prat. Antoine Watteau 1684-1721, Catalogue raisonné des dessins, 3 vols., Milan, 1996, II, no. 503, p. 842, repr.
Dervaux, Isabelle. Drawing connections: Baselitz, Kelly, Penone, Rockburne, and the old masters. New York: Morgan Library & Museum, 2007, p. 22-23 (repr.)
100 Master drawings from the Morgan Library & Museum. München : Hirmer, 2008, no. 77, repr. [Jennifer Tonkovich]

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Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection

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Drawings and Prints