Pierre-Paul Prud'hon

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Pierre-Paul Prud'hon
1758-1823
The Park at Malmaison
ca. 1819
Black and white chalk on blue laid paper.
13 1/16 x 10 9/16 inches (332 x 268 mm)
Thaw Collection.
1997.86
Notes: 

Watermark: none.
Landscape studies are quite rare in Prud'hon's oeuvre. In depicting the site devoid of human figures, the artist focused his attention on the careful rendering of the effects of light and shade. The setting has been identified as a view of the park of Malmaison, the site of Empress Josephine Bonaparte's residence, about nine miles west of the center of Paris. Prud'hon was the empress's drawing teacher, and in a painting of 1809, now in the Louvre, the artist had portrayed her sitting outdoors in a clearing under the trees at Malmaison. -- Exhibition Label, from "Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection"

Provenance: 
Charles Boulanger de Boisfremont (Lugt 353); Mme Power (née Boisfremont); her sale, 15-16 April 1864, no. 115; Baron de Clary; Baron de la Tournelle, Montpellier; David David-Weill, Neuilly; Richard S. Davis, Minneapolis; R.M. Light & Co., Inc., Santa Barbara; Mr. and Mrs. Eugene V. Thaw, New York.
Associated names: 

Boisfremont, Charles Boulanger de, former owner.
Power, Mme, (née Boisfremont), former owner.
Clary, Baron de, former owner.
Tournelle, Baron de la, former owner.
David-Weill, David, 1871-1952, former owner.
Davis, Richard S., 1917-1985, former owner.
Thaw, Eugene Victor, former owner.
Thaw, Clare, former owner.

Bibliography: 

The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY, "Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection", 2017. Exh. cat., no. 305, repr.
Denison, Cara D. et al. The Thaw Collection : Master Drawings and New Acquisitions. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1994, no. 31.
Denison, Cara D. French Master Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1993, no. 93, repr. in color.
Denison, Cara D. et al. From Mantegna to Picasso : Drawings from the Thaw Collection at the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York. London : Royal Academy of Arts ; New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1996, no. 29, repr. in color.

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