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Lot Essay
Related to the picture of the same subject presented to the Salon of 1839 and now in the Louvre (V. Pomarède, Chassériau, un autre romantisme, exhib. cat., Paris, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 2002, no. 15). The general arrangement of the drawing is very close to that of the picture, with the two elders hiding in the background, albeit the position of Susanna is different. In the Louvre's picture she is getting undressed while in the present drawing she is rearranging her hair while holding her clothes.
Amongst a number of related drawings, the one the closest in composition to the present one is at the Louvre (L.-A. Prat, op. cit., 1988, no. 13). The later drawing, of a much larger size than the former, shows a slightly different position of the right hand. Three further related drawings are also in the Louvre (L.-A. Prat, op. cit., 1988, nos. 11-2, 14).
Chassériau used the present drawing to produce a lithograph of the composition, printed on the verso of the sheet. Only one other impression of this lithograph, retouched by the artist, is known (at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, M. Sandoz, op. cit., 1974, no. 267, fig. CCXXII).
The Salon of 1839 was Chassériau's first public exhibition, and the picture, although badly hung, was very successful. It was described by the critic Théophile Thoré as 'Sa suzanne au bain est d'une tournure délicieuse; il y a je ne sais quelle noblesse et quelle volupté dans les ondoiements de sa taille. [] Le fond du paysage, où l'on entrevoit les deux têtes curieuses des vieillards, est superbe et de haut style. [] La couleur générale est donc limpide, mais faible comme la lueur pâle de la lune' (T. Thoré, 'Salon de 1839', Le Constitutionnel, Paris, 1839, quoted in V. Pomarède, op. cit., p. 88). A few weeks later the picture was hung in a more prominent place. The picture was then sent to America to be sold, returned to Europe, was exhibited again at the Exposition Universelle of 1855, went to Russia, was sold at Drouot before being given to the Louvre by Alice Ozy in 1884.
Amongst a number of related drawings, the one the closest in composition to the present one is at the Louvre (L.-A. Prat, op. cit., 1988, no. 13). The later drawing, of a much larger size than the former, shows a slightly different position of the right hand. Three further related drawings are also in the Louvre (L.-A. Prat, op. cit., 1988, nos. 11-2, 14).
Chassériau used the present drawing to produce a lithograph of the composition, printed on the verso of the sheet. Only one other impression of this lithograph, retouched by the artist, is known (at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, M. Sandoz, op. cit., 1974, no. 267, fig. CCXXII).
The Salon of 1839 was Chassériau's first public exhibition, and the picture, although badly hung, was very successful. It was described by the critic Théophile Thoré as 'Sa suzanne au bain est d'une tournure délicieuse; il y a je ne sais quelle noblesse et quelle volupté dans les ondoiements de sa taille. [] Le fond du paysage, où l'on entrevoit les deux têtes curieuses des vieillards, est superbe et de haut style. [] La couleur générale est donc limpide, mais faible comme la lueur pâle de la lune' (T. Thoré, 'Salon de 1839', Le Constitutionnel, Paris, 1839, quoted in V. Pomarède, op. cit., p. 88). A few weeks later the picture was hung in a more prominent place. The picture was then sent to America to be sold, returned to Europe, was exhibited again at the Exposition Universelle of 1855, went to Russia, was sold at Drouot before being given to the Louvre by Alice Ozy in 1884.