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Lot Essay
The pose of the semi-nude woman with arms resting on top of her head is the same as that of two other academic female nudes by Géricault, one depicted frontally and the other from the side, the first of which is in the British Museum, London (Bazin, op. cit., III, no. 1064), the other in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen (Bazin, op. cit., III, no. 1065; see also exh. cat. Géricault, Paris, 1990, op. cit., no. 75, fig. 109).
The three children on the verso have been identified as members of the Dedreux family. The architect Pierre-Anne Dedreux (1788-1849) was a 'pensionnaire' at the Académie de France in Rome at the Villa Medici from 1815 to to 1819. His wife, Elisabeth Adélaïde joined him in October 1817 with her two children, Alfred (who would become a distinguished painter) born in 1810, and Elisabeth born in 1812. Géricault painted a double portrait of Alfred and Elisabeth, formerly in the Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint-Laurent collection (Fig. 1; Christie's, Paris, 24 February 2009, lot 83; Bazin, op. cit., V, no. 1723) for which there is a study in the Louvre (Bazin, op. cit., no. 1724). He also executed a portrait of Alfred alone now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (Bazin, op. cit., V, no. 1722). In the latter as in the Louvre study for the double portrait Alfred wears the same outfit as in the present drawing. The Dedreux portraits are generally dated circa 1817-18.
The three children on the verso have been identified as members of the Dedreux family. The architect Pierre-Anne Dedreux (1788-1849) was a 'pensionnaire' at the Académie de France in Rome at the Villa Medici from 1815 to to 1819. His wife, Elisabeth Adélaïde joined him in October 1817 with her two children, Alfred (who would become a distinguished painter) born in 1810, and Elisabeth born in 1812. Géricault painted a double portrait of Alfred and Elisabeth, formerly in the Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint-Laurent collection (Fig. 1; Christie's, Paris, 24 February 2009, lot 83; Bazin, op. cit., V, no. 1723) for which there is a study in the Louvre (Bazin, op. cit., no. 1724). He also executed a portrait of Alfred alone now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (Bazin, op. cit., V, no. 1722). In the latter as in the Louvre study for the double portrait Alfred wears the same outfit as in the present drawing. The Dedreux portraits are generally dated circa 1817-18.