Gaspard GRESLY (L'Isle-sur-le-Doubs, 1712- Besançon 1756)

The Love Lesson. Oil on canvas. Signed lower left (Re-tooled; some restorations). 67 x 79 cm. Molded and gilded wood frame. Based on a composition by Antoine Watteau (1716), engraved a first time by Philippe Mercier (1689 - 1760) with a dedication to the Comte de Caylus (1722 - 23), then a second time, by Charles Dupuis (1685 - 1742) for the Recueil Jullienne (1734), to which the work belonged, and which is now in the National Art Museum, Stockholm (Cf. 1 - Pierre Rosenberg Catalogue of the exhibition Watteau, Paris, Grand - Palais, n° 55 "Leçon d'Amour", p. 384 - RMN 1984 - 2 - Catalogue of the exhibition Antoine Watteau, La leçon de Musique. Brussels, Palais des Beaux - Arts, 2013; cat. 121, pp. 202 - 203). It is possible that Gaspard Gresly's interest in this work by Antoine Watteau was strengthened by his relations in Paris, around 1750, with the Comte de Caylus (1692 - 1765) engraver and collector, author of a "Vie d'Antoine Watteau" (1748), close to Antoine Crozat (1655 - 1738) and Jean de Jullienne (1686 - 1766) (Cf. 1 - Marianne Roland Michel. Watteau. A - L'ami Caylus ; pp. 257 - 258 - 1984 ; 2 - Gaspard Gresly. Un peintre franc - comtois au XVIIIe siècle ; pp. 22 & 23 - Catalogue of the exhibition at the Musée des Beaux - Arts de Besançon, and the Musée de Brou de Bourg - en - Bresse (1994).