Details
MICHEL CORNEILLE THE YOUNGER (Paris 1642-1708)
Eight studies of women’s heads
black, red, and white chalk, on blue paper
812 x 1178 in. (21.9 x 30 cm)
Provenance
Antoine-Joseph Dézallier d’Argenville (1680-1765), Paris (his number ‘2939’, L. 2951); Paris, 18-28 January 1779, part of lot 451 or 452.
Henry Wellesley (1791-1866), Oxford (L.1384).
Bradbury collection (according to incriptions on a now removed old mount).
Anonymous sale; Christie’s, London, 5 July 1994, lot 82.
Literature
J. Labbé and L. Bicart-Sée, La Collection de dessins dAntoine-Joseph Dézallier d'Argenville, reconstituée daprès son Abrégé de la vie des plus fameux peintres, édition de 1762, Paris, 1996, pp. 312-313, ill.
Brought to you by

Lot Essay

Though trained in the studio of Charles Lebrun, Corneille was mainly influenced by Pierre Mignard and, like him, enjoyed studying positions and attitudes of heads and figures on the same sheet in an attractive mise-en-page. Although it has been suggested that the heads in red chalk in the present sheet are offsets retouched with white chalk, they are more likely drawn, as those in black chalk.
Similar sheets can be found, among other collections, in the Louvre (inv. 25651) and the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich (inv. 3331; for both, see P. Rosenberg, De Callot à Greuze. Dessins français des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles des musées de Weimar, exhib. cat., Paris, Musée Jacquemart-André, 2006, p. 104, under no. 28, ill.), as well as the collection of Louis-Antoine Prat (P. Rosenberg in La Force du dessin. Chefs-d’œuvre de la collection Prat, exhib. cat., Paris, Petit Palais, 2020, no. 31, ill.).

Related Articles

Sorry, we are unable to display this content. Please check your connection.

More from
Old Master & British Drawings
Place your bid Condition report

A Christie's specialist may contact you to discuss this lot or to notify you if the condition changes prior to the sale.

I confirm that I have read this Important Notice regarding Condition Reports and agree to its terms. View Condition Report