.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
A great part of Fragonard’s graphic production, nearly three hundred drawings, consists of illustrations of literary texts. Fragonard selected a great variety of works to illustrate, ranging from Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso to Cervantes’s Don Quixote to La Fontaine’s Les Contes, to contemporary texts. None of the projects undertaken, however, came to completion. Therefore the purpose of these series of drawings is not known.
Marie-Anne Dupuy-Vachey has connected this work with a series of twelve other compositions by Fragonard based on the short novel, La Reine de Golconde by Stanislas Jean de Boufflers (1738-1815) and first published in 1761. The story enjoyed great success and many editions appeared during the 18th Century. Fragonard’s related drawings were dispersed early on and their connection to the novel was lost.
La Reine de Golconde tells the story of two young lovers, Aline and the narrator (Saint Phar), from the time of their first encounter until, many adventures later, they reunite. At that point Aline is married to the Sultan of Golconde who surprises her and Saint Phar in the bedroom; Saint Phar is able to flee by leaping out of the window. This charming scene expresses all the wit and verve of Fragonard's draftsmanship. The pentimenti of Saint Phar’s legs moving in the air, his jacket and the window curtains fluttering in the a breeze, evoke a sense of frantic motion which corresponds to Boufflers’s lively writing style.
Marie-Anne Dupuy-Vachey has connected this work with a series of twelve other compositions by Fragonard based on the short novel, La Reine de Golconde by Stanislas Jean de Boufflers (1738-1815) and first published in 1761. The story enjoyed great success and many editions appeared during the 18th Century. Fragonard’s related drawings were dispersed early on and their connection to the novel was lost.
La Reine de Golconde tells the story of two young lovers, Aline and the narrator (Saint Phar), from the time of their first encounter until, many adventures later, they reunite. At that point Aline is married to the Sultan of Golconde who surprises her and Saint Phar in the bedroom; Saint Phar is able to flee by leaping out of the window. This charming scene expresses all the wit and verve of Fragonard's draftsmanship. The pentimenti of Saint Phar’s legs moving in the air, his jacket and the window curtains fluttering in the a breeze, evoke a sense of frantic motion which corresponds to Boufflers’s lively writing style.