Hubert Robert

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Hubert Robert

1733-1808

Draftsman Sketching at Villa Madama

ca. 1760

Red chalk.

18 1/2 x 13 1/2 inches (470 x 343 mm)

Thaw Collection.

2017.221

Notes:

Watermark: none visible through lining.
Drawing from the model and making drawn copies from other works of art were fundamental to academic pedagogy. Robert's drawing shows a fully formed pensionnaire diligently copying Domenichino's fresco of the Flagellation of St. Andrew (1608-9) in the oratory of the church of S. Gregorio al Celio in Rome. The young man has created a makeshift studio from two chairs and a prie-dieu, which enable him to balance the large portfolio on his knees. This draftsman likely represents one of the pensionnaires sent to study at the French Academy in Rome, a course of continuing instruction that could last for as long as four years. -- Exhibition Label, from "Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection"

Inscription:

Signed and inscribed at lower right in pen and black ink, "villa madama Robert R...". Paper of drawing has been folded in half, leaving a horizontal crease at the center.

Provenance:

Possibly the artist's family, perhaps one of the many drawings sold in lots in his sale, 5 April 1809; possibly Destailleur; art market, Paris (presence of customs stamp on verso of mount indicates that it passed through Paris, probably in the 1930s); private collection, Florida; sale, New York, William Doyle Galleries, 25 January 1989, lot 86; Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw, New York.

Associated names:

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. 336, repr.
Denison, Cara D. et al. The Thaw Collection : Master Drawings and New Acquisitions. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1994, no. 28.

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