Head of a Lion

While this drawing, and others closely resembling it, were acquired as the work of Eugène Delacroix, research by Laurence Lhinares and Louis-Antoine Prat exploring the contents of Delacroix's studio and the use of a false version of the Delacroix atelier stamp have revealed that many studies of beasts are actually by followers of the artist. Among those active in Delacroix's orbit who sought to emulate his manner was Auguste André Lançon, a little-known figure who seems to have produced several heavily washed watercolors of lions, especially the heads of male lions, against a dark ground. Lançon was the subject of a 1 October 1887 article in the "Gazette des beaux-arts," and there are a small group of prints bearing his name along with signed watercolors in the Louvre and on the art market. These drawings compare favorably to the present sheet and another in the Morgan's collection (2017.145), both of which were acquired by collectors in the 1960s.
L. Lhinares & L.-A. Prat, "Fauves et faux (cachets)", Bulletin de la Société des Amis du musée National Eugène Delacroix, n° 10, 2012, pp. 25-38.