Louis-Roland Trinquesse

Download image: 
Louis-Roland Trinquesse
approximately 1745-approximately 1800
Study of a Lady of Fashion
1780-1790
Red chalk on paper.
14 13/16 x 10 1/16 inches (376 x 254 mm)
Purchased on the Sunny Crawford von Bülow Fund 1978.
1990.16
Notes: 

Trinquesse produced a sizable body of red chalk drawings of women in elegant dress, posed in interiors, sometimes with a chair, seated on a sofa, or at a writing desk. He depicted single figures in thoughtful poses as well as pairs of figures in conversation. Based on inscriptions, Jean Cailleux identified three of the models used for this group of studies as Marianne Franmery, Louise Charlotte Marini, and Louise-Elizabeth Bain. While we may know their names, little else is known about Trinquesse's sitters. The drawings are roughly dated between 1771 and 1797, the years the artist was active in Paris, having become a student at the Royal Academy in 1770. It is not entirely clear which model posed for the present sheet, given the title of her head and that her hairstyle is largely obscured by her bonnet.
The function of these studies of fashionably dressed models is elusive. In this sheet, a young woman sits precariously on the edge of a narrow rectangular table, her head turned toward the spectator, supporting herself in this unstable position with her left hand. She wears a hip-length jacket, or caraco, which was in common at-home garb in the 1780s.

Inscription: 

Watermark: Countermark: Fragment with letters "RH?" in cartouche. Lined drawing.

Provenance: 
Edmond and Jules de Goncourt (Lugt 1089); their sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 15-17 February 1897, lot 323; G. Menier, sale; Mlle Demarsy; her sale, lot 256; Comte Pierre de Jumilhac and others, Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, 15 June 1929, no. 5, repr.; Richard Owen, Paris; John Nicholas Brown, Providence; David Tunick, New York; acquired from Thomas Agnew and Sons Ltd., London.
Watermark: 
Associated names: 

Goncourt, Edmond de, 1822-1896, former owner.
Goncourt, Jules de, 1830-1870, former owner.
Menier, G., former owner.
Demarsy, Mlle., former owner.
Jumilhac, Pierre de, comte, former owner.
Owen, Richard, former owner.
Brown, John Nicholas, former owner.

Bibliography: 

Denison, Cara D. French Master Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1993, no. 86, repr.
Denison, Cara D., with Stephanie Wiles and Ruth S. Kraemer. Fantasy and Reality : Drawings from the Sunny Crawford von Bülow Collection. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1995, no. 20, repr. in color.

School: 
Century: 
Classification: 
Department: