Lot Essay
Cézanne drew this study after the bronze David by Antonin Mercié (1845-1916). The sculpture was exhibited in the 1872 Salon and later at the Musée du Luxembourg and the Louvre.
The drawing was executed on the third page of the carnet (or sketchbook) referred to as Chappuis I, which includes Venturi nos. 1267-1282. Chappuis describes it as "a relatively small sketchbook, easily carried in one's pocket, its spine so worn that it could hardly keep the sheets bound together" (op. cit., p. 21). Chappuis broke up the sketchbook after he aquired it in 1934, for reasons he discusses in the introduction to his catalogue raisonné (op. cit., p. 23)
The drawing was executed on the third page of the carnet (or sketchbook) referred to as Chappuis I, which includes Venturi nos. 1267-1282. Chappuis describes it as "a relatively small sketchbook, easily carried in one's pocket, its spine so worn that it could hardly keep the sheets bound together" (op. cit., p. 21). Chappuis broke up the sketchbook after he aquired it in 1934, for reasons he discusses in the introduction to his catalogue raisonné (op. cit., p. 23)