Description
111. Jean-Antoine WATTEAU (1684-1721). Study for the two central figures of The Embarkation for Cythera. C. 1716-1717. Sanguine drawing, framing line in brown ink. 18.6 x 14.8 cm. The interpretation of the embarkation for Cytherea has given rise to the vision of a loving pilgrimage. In mythology, the Greek island of Kythera is associated with the goddess Aphrodite, symbols contribute to the sensuality of the scene (flight of Cupids, flowers, statue of Venus). Our drawing represents the two characters in the center of the painting at the top of the hill, a gentleman seen from behind, gestures to the left, taking by the waist a young woman seen from the front, her head turned to the right. She, turning her head towards the couple at her side. The lover accepts the hand offered to her by the man. Condition: Listed in the Catalogue raisonné of drawings by Rosenberg and Prat as having undergone "recent good restoration." Slight stain to the flap of the jacket. Provenance: - Coll. G. Mühlbacher. no. 310. Sale of 15 and 18 May 1899. - Collection Léon Michel-Lévy. Sale 17 and 18 June 1925. - Collection Madame Labbé, Paris. - Private collection. Exhibitions: - Galerie Cailleux. The French drawing from Watteau to Prud'hon, April 1951, n° 150. - Grand Palais. Watteau, Paris, 1984-1985. Reproduced figure 9, p. 400. Bibliography: - E. Michel, H de Vallée, Mme Aulanier. L'embarquement pour l'île de Cythère, 1939, fig.19. - K. T. Parker and J. Mathey. A. Watteau, Catalogue complet de son œuvre dessiné. De Nobele, 1957, T. 2, fig. 862. - Catalog of the Watteau exhibition, Grand Palais, Paris, 1984-1985. Reproduced fig. 9, p. 400. - P. Rosenberg, J.-L. Prat. A. Watteau (1684-1721). Catalog raisonné des dessins, Gallimard, 1996, fig. 514, p. 865.
111
111. Jean-Antoine WATTEAU (1684-1721). Study for the two central figures of The Embarkation for Cythera. C. 1716-1717. Sanguine drawing, framing line in brown ink. 18.6 x 14.8 cm. The interpretation of the embarkation for Cytherea has given rise to the vision of a loving pilgrimage. In mythology, the Greek island of Kythera is associated with the goddess Aphrodite, symbols contribute to the sensuality of the scene (flight of Cupids, flowers, statue of Venus). Our drawing represents the two characters in the center of the painting at the top of the hill, a gentleman seen from behind, gestures to the left, taking by the waist a young woman seen from the front, her head turned to the right. She, turning her head towards the couple at her side. The lover accepts the hand offered to her by the man. Condition: Listed in the Catalogue raisonné of drawings by Rosenberg and Prat as having undergone "recent good restoration." Slight stain to the flap of the jacket. Provenance: - Coll. G. Mühlbacher. no. 310. Sale of 15 and 18 May 1899. - Collection Léon Michel-Lévy. Sale 17 and 18 June 1925. - Collection Madame Labbé, Paris. - Private collection. Exhibitions: - Galerie Cailleux. The French drawing from Watteau to Prud'hon, April 1951, n° 150. - Grand Palais. Watteau, Paris, 1984-1985. Reproduced figure 9, p. 400. Bibliography: - E. Michel, H de Vallée, Mme Aulanier. L'embarquement pour l'île de Cythère, 1939, fig.19. - K. T. Parker and J. Mathey. A. Watteau, Catalogue complet de son œuvre dessiné. De Nobele, 1957, T. 2, fig. 862. - Catalog of the Watteau exhibition, Grand Palais, Paris, 1984-1985. Reproduced fig. 9, p. 400. - P. Rosenberg, J.-L. Prat. A. Watteau (1684-1721). Catalog raisonné des dessins, Gallimard, 1996, fig. 514, p. 865.
