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Jun 28, 2022

Feb 27, 2015

Jan 10, 2022

Study of a Male Nude (verso)

Study of a Male Nude (verso)

c. 1810

Part of a set. See all set records

Pierre-Paul Prud'hon

(French, 1758–1823)

France, 19th century

Black and white chalk (both stumped)

Support: Blue laid paper

Sheet: 61.9 x 43.6 cm (24 3/8 x 17 3/16 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1961.318.b

Location

101B Prints & Drawings

Did you know?

Pierre-Paul Prud'hon was raised in the Cluny abbey by monks, who recognized and encouraged his artistic talent as a boy.

Description

This sheet is notable in its presentation of a woman, specifically one of Pierre-Paul Prud’hon’s favorite models, Marguerite—known for her curly hair and striking appearance. Following the artist’s death, more than 100 drawings were discovered in his studio, each portraying a closely studied nude figure like those shown here. The context of these works remains unclear: artists typically sketched from a model early in their training, but Prud’hon did so as a well-established painter. He saw drawing as a solitary practice, working consistently with white and black chalks on a paper described by one critic as “moonlit blue.”

Artist biography

Pierre-Paul Prud'hon

Pierre-Paul Prud'hon studied at the Dijon School of Art under François Devosge (1732-1811), founder and director of one of the most prominent art schools in France. In 1776 Prud'hon met the Baron de Joursanvault, a follower of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and an art lover, who became his first patron. At the age of twenty-two Prud'hon left for Paris, where he attended the Académie Royale and was introduced to Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805) and Jean-Georges Wille (1715-1808), an important engraver and collector. Soon after he returned to Dijon in 1784, he won the Prix de Rome and left for Italy, where he would spend four decisive years. He studied the works of Raphael (1483-1520), Leonardo da Vinci (1452--1519), and Correggio (ca. 1489/94-1534) as well as antique sculptures. He was influenced by the artists Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-1779), Antonio Canova (1757-1822), and Angelica Kauffmann (1741-1807) rather than his own countrymen, the pupils of David (q.v.). When he returned to Paris in 1788, Prud'hon endorsed the revolutionary ideals. He attended the meetings of David's Club des Arts and made drawings with political overtones that were to be engraved. After Robespierre's execution, Prud'hon was forced to live in exile in the Franche-Comté (1794-96), where he painted several portraits and made book illustrations. Upon his return to Paris he was elected to the Institut de France and received private and public commissions for decorative projects, including, for example, the ceilings in the Greek sculpture rooms of the Louvre and designs for the celebrations of the emperor's coronation and his marriage to Marie-Louise of Austria. During the First Empire (1805-15) he became equally respected for his imperial portraits and was appointed drawing instructor of the new empress. During the Bourbon restoration (1815-23) he still received several public commissions, even though he did not sympathize with the regime. In 1802 Prud'hon's wife had to be institutionalized, leaving him to care for their five children. He would be supported in this task by his pupil, Constance Mayer (1774-1821), who not only became his mistress but also his first artistic collaborator. (Prud'hon often made the preparatory drawings for her paintings.) His last years were plagued with many problems, and Mayer's suicide in 1821 affected him tremendously. He would survive her only briefly, dying two years later in 1823.

Inscriptions

Inscription

ON SEPERATELY APPLIED PIECES OF PAPER (now removed), printed in black ink: WALTER S. M. BURNS, ESQ. / To be Sold on giving up his Residence at 50, Grosvenor Street, W. / Sale - Sotheby [inscribed in black ink] / DAY OF SALE / Thursday, May 6th, 1926. ; printed in black ink: PIERRE PRUD'HON. / 134 Study of a Nude Woman seated looking to the Right / Black and white chalk on blue paper / 24 in. by 16 3/4 in. (610 mm. by 425 mm.) ; printed in black ink: 2.026

Provenance

Charles-Boulanger de Boisfremont, Paris (Lugt 353, lower left, in red ink); [his sale, Paris, Hotel Drouot, 9 April 1870, lot 49] (according to letter of 16 Feb. 1981 from Sylvain Laveissière in departmental file). Walter S.M. Burns, London; [his sale, London, Sotheby's, 6 May 1926, p. 21, lot 134] (photocopy of cat. in departmental file)

Exhibition history

for recto:

CMA, French Drawings from the Collection (Dec. 13, 1994-Mar. 12, 1995).
CMA, Rococo, Revolution, Restoration (July 11-Sep. 24, 1989)--[(?): did this finally appear in show?: the exh. files have two lists for the show, only one of which includes this drawing].
CMA (listed in file of "West Wing Label Copy, ordered June 20, 1986").
CMA, National Schools of Style (June 14-Sep. 18, 1983).
CMA, The Lessons of the Academy (Feb. 8-May 29, 1983) ["Study of a Male Nude" listed on sheet, so only verso shown?--the same question about verso only; recto only; verso/recto both exhibited may apply as well to some of these other exh. entries (if it is an important question???)].
CMA, French Prints and Drawings in the Age of the Bourbons, 1589-1792 (Jan. 25-May 16, 1982) ["Study of a Nude Woman, Seated Looking to the Right" listed on sheet, so only recto shown?].
CMA, Idea to Image: Preparatory Studies from the Renaissance to Impressionism (Feb. 19-Mar. 23, 1980), pp. 19-21, illus. recto and verso.
CMA, 17th and 18th Century Genre and French Drawings (May 31-Aug. 19, 1979).
Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario; Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada; San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, French Master Drawings of the 17th and 18th Centuries in North American Collections (Sep. 2-Oct. 15; Nov. 3-Dec. 17, 1972; Jan. 12-Mar. 11, 1973), no. 118, pl. 138.
CMA, "Gallery List of Drawings" (opened June 11, 1968) ["Study of a Nude Woman, Seated Looking to the Right" listed on sheet].
CMA, "Gallery List of Drawings" (1966) ["Study of a Nude Woman, Seated Looking to the Right" listed on sheet].
CMA, French Drawings (Nov. 10, 1965-Feb. 16, 1966; re-opened Mar. 31, 1966) ["Study of a Nude Woman, Seated Looking to the Right" listed on sheet].
CMA, France, Italy, Netherlands (Jan. 14-Mar. 24, 1965) ["Study of a Nude Woman Seated Looking to the Right" listed on sheet].
CMA, Neo-Classicism: Style and Motif (1964), no. 110, illus.
CMA, The Year in Review for 1962 (Oct. 24-Nov. 25, 1962), cma Bulletin 49 (1962), p. 226 no. 129, illus. recto p. 220.

French Master Drawings of the 17th and 18th Centuries in North American Collections. Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA (September 2-October 15, 1972); Art Gallery of Ontario, Ontario M5T 1G4, Canada (organizer) (September 2-October 15, 1972); National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ont.,, Canada (November 3-December 17, 1972); The New York Cultural Center, New York, NY (April 4-May 13, 1973).

Conserving the Past for the Future. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-May 6, 2001).

Nineteenth-Century French Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 20-April 30, 2023).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Study of a Male Nude (verso)|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1961.318.b|author=Pierre-Paul Prud'hon|year=c. 1810|access-date=31 May 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

See also

Collection:

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Type of artwork:

Medium:

Black and white chalk (both stumped)

Credit line:

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

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