ELEGANT FIGURES AND A WASHERWOMAN BY A FOUNTAIN WITH A STATUE OF CUPID AND AN OBELISK

HUBERT ROBERT'S GRACEFUL AND ROMANTIC VIEW OF AN ITALIAN GARDEN DATES FROM THE EARLY TO MID-1780S. THE BROAD VISTA, MIST-ENVELOPED HILLS BEYOND THE TERRACE, AND ELEGANT FIGURES CHATTING BESIDE A FOUNTAIN ALL APPEAR IN SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FORM IN A PAINTING OF THE SAME PERIOD THAT DEPICTS A FRENCH VIEW, THE TERRACE OF THE CHTEAU AT MARLY (NELSON-ATKINS MUSEUM OF ART, KANSAS CITY). BY ADDING A RENAISSANCE FOUNTAIN AND COLUMN, A BAROQUE FOUNTAIN SCULPTURE AND A YOUNG LAUNDRESS SO FAMILIAR FROM HIS MANY ITALIAN PICTURES, HOWEVER, ROBERT IS CERTAINLY SETTING THE PRESENT SCENE IN AN IDEALIZED ROMAN CAMPAGNA.

A QUICK PENCIL SKETCH FOR THE TWO CONVERSING LADIES, FORMERLY IN THE GROULT COLLECTION, WAS WITH GALERIE CAILLEUX IN 1955 (ILLUSTRATED, THE BURLINGTON MAGAZINE. MAY 1955, LXCVII, NO. 626, P. X). A BLACK CHALK STUDY OF THE CUPID FOUNTAIN RECENTLY APPEARED AT CHRISTIE'S (FIG. 1; SALE, NEW YORK, 11 JANUARY 1994, LOT 313). THAT DRAWING WAS MADE ON PAPER WITH A ROMAN WATERMARK AND NO DOUBT CAME FROM A DISSEMBLED SKETCHBOOK OF STUDIES MADE DURING ROBERT'S ELEVEN-YEAR RESIDENCE IN ITALY. LIKE MOST OF THOSE STUDIES, IT PROBABLY RECORDS AN ACTUAL MONUMENT THAT CAUGHT THE ARTIST'S FANCY.