54 - Joseph-Marie VIEN (1716–1809)

Joseph-Marie VIEN (1716–1809) Assumption of the Virgin, circa 1755 Oil on mounted paper 38 x 19 cm (image size) NOTE: This sketch depicting the Assumption of the Virgin is likely a preparatory study for a ceiling project of which no trace of its execution has been found to date. With its dynamic and spirited style, it is characteristic of the sketches painted by the artist around the 1750s. Published in the artist’s catalog raisonné (Lugand…), this beautiful study is likely the one that appeared at the Vien auction in 1809 (Joseph-Marie Vien Auction, Paris, A. Paillet, May 17, 1809, p. 19, no. 91) under the same number as three other sketches: Hercules Slaying the Visi, Prostrate Nuns, and a Silenus. We can compare this oil painting to a drawing by the artist: “Study for an Assumption of the Virgin,” now in the collection of the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen. The drawing was donated to the museum by Lemonnier Jr. in 1868: Rouen catalog, 1911, p. 144, no. 1175. PROVENANCE: - Joseph-Marie Vien estate sale, Paris, A. Paillet, May 17, 1809, p. 19, no. 91 - Arte Sepia Gallery, Paris - Private collection, Paris, acquired from the previous owner in 2007 BIBLIOGRAPHY: - Thomas W. Gaehtgens and Jacques Lugand, *Joseph-Marie Vien*, Paris, Arthena, 1988, ill. no. 123a, p. 158