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Bernard Picart
1673-1733
Man Seated on a Block, Holding a Staff and Leaning his Head in his Hand
1720
Red chalk on paper.
15 7/8 x 18 3/8 inches (402 x 469 mm)
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.
III, 85f
Notes:
Picart continued to produce studies from the live model, called academies, long past his student days and until the end of his career. These later drawings, made in the 1720s, showcase his mastery, offering a range of dynamic poses using studio props such as a staff but with the indication of a broader setting. Picart led a busy studio and such model studies were used by his students, who would copy from Picart's drawn figures before drawing directly from the model themselves.
Inscription:
Signed and dated at lower right, "B. Picart f./1720".
Provenance:
John MacGowan (d.1803), Edinburgh (Lugt 1496); Charles Fairfax Murray (1849-1919), London and Florence; from whom purchased through Galerie Alexandre Imbert, Rome, in 1909 by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), New York (no mark; see Lugt 1509); his son, J. P. Morgan, Jr. (1867-1943), New York.
Associated names:
MacGowan, John, -1803, former owner.
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
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