.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Eunice Williams has kindly confirmed the attribution on examining the drawing.
With the exception of the 1931 Paris exhibition, where it was entitled 'Etude de têtes', the subject of the present sheet has been traditionally identified as Susannah and the Elders, although the closeness of the figures and their relationship with one another do not seem to relate to the biblical story. A closer parallel could instead be made with drawing entitled Le Baiser, which uses similarly bold, sweeping strokes of wash to build the image, in the Ronald S. Lauder Collection, E. Williams, Drawings by Fragonard in North American Collections, exhib. cat., Washington, National Gallery of Art, and elsewhere, 1979, no. 42. Both drawings focus on the intimacy of the figures, which may reflect a reworking of the subject both in pictures and drawings to meet the demands of collectors, a tendency particularly noted in Fragonard's treatment of the kiss by authors from the Goncourts onward, E. Williams, op. cit., p. 112, under no. 42.
Eunice Williams dates the Lauder drawing to the 1770s, and relates the composition to Fragonard's reaction to the earthy spirit of Rubens' large compositions known through paintings seen in the Liechtenstein Palace, Vienna and at the Luxembourg Palace in Paris. The manner and dress of the figures in the present drawing may suggest a similar origin.
With the exception of the 1931 Paris exhibition, where it was entitled 'Etude de têtes', the subject of the present sheet has been traditionally identified as Susannah and the Elders, although the closeness of the figures and their relationship with one another do not seem to relate to the biblical story. A closer parallel could instead be made with drawing entitled Le Baiser, which uses similarly bold, sweeping strokes of wash to build the image, in the Ronald S. Lauder Collection, E. Williams, Drawings by Fragonard in North American Collections, exhib. cat., Washington, National Gallery of Art, and elsewhere, 1979, no. 42. Both drawings focus on the intimacy of the figures, which may reflect a reworking of the subject both in pictures and drawings to meet the demands of collectors, a tendency particularly noted in Fragonard's treatment of the kiss by authors from the Goncourts onward, E. Williams, op. cit., p. 112, under no. 42.
Eunice Williams dates the Lauder drawing to the 1770s, and relates the composition to Fragonard's reaction to the earthy spirit of Rubens' large compositions known through paintings seen in the Liechtenstein Palace, Vienna and at the Luxembourg Palace in Paris. The manner and dress of the figures in the present drawing may suggest a similar origin.