.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The attribution to Delacroix was supported by Professor Lee Johnson, on the basis of a photograph, in a letter dated 28 June 2002. Professor Johnson notes that the drawing would appear to date from Delacroix's stay in London in the summer of 1825.
The absence of Delacroix' studio stamp indicates that the drawing was offered as a presentation piece during the artist's lifetime. Since Mary Ansley, the earliest recorded owner of this drawing, was an accomplished painter who exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1814-18, 1821-25 and 1832-33, and was also an acquaintance of Louis Napoleon, it seems likely that she would have also known Delacroix and may have received the drawing directly from him.
The absence of Delacroix' studio stamp indicates that the drawing was offered as a presentation piece during the artist's lifetime. Since Mary Ansley, the earliest recorded owner of this drawing, was an accomplished painter who exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1814-18, 1821-25 and 1832-33, and was also an acquaintance of Louis Napoleon, it seems likely that she would have also known Delacroix and may have received the drawing directly from him.