id: 149375 accession number: 1978.35 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1978.35 updated: 2024-03-26 01:59:42.578000 Two Women, 1800s. Anonymous, circle of Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (French, 1758–1823). Black chalk heightened with white chalk, both with stumping (with spots of black ink and brown paint, unrelated to composition); sheet: 29.8 x 23.4 cm (11 3/4 x 9 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur D. Prescott 1978.35 title: Two Women title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1800s creation date earliest: 1800 creation date latest: 1899 current location: creditline: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur D. Prescott copyright: --- culture: France, 19th century technique: black chalk heightened with white chalk, both with stumping (with spots of black ink and brown paint, unrelated to composition) department: Drawings collection: DR - French type: Drawing find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Anonymous - artist * Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (French, 1758–1823) - artist Pierre-Paul Prud'hon studied at the Dijon School of Art under François Devosge (1732-1811), founder and director of one of the most prominent art schools in France. In 1776 Prud'hon met the Baron de Joursanvault, a follower of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and an art lover, who became his first patron. At the age of twenty-two Prud'hon left for Paris, where he attended the Académie Royale and was introduced to Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805) and Jean-Georges Wille (1715-1808), an important engraver and collector. Soon after he returned to Dijon in 1784, he won the Prix de Rome and left for Italy, where he would spend four decisive years. He studied the works of Raphael (1483-1520), Leonardo da Vinci (1452--1519), and Correggio (ca. 1489/94-1534) as well as antique sculptures. He was influenced by the artists Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-1779), Antonio Canova (1757-1822), and Angelica Kauffmann (1741-1807) rather than his own countrymen, the pupils of David (q.v.). When he returned to Paris in 1788, Prud'hon endorsed the revolutionary ideals. He attended the meetings of David's Club des Arts and made drawings with political overtones that were to be engraved. After Robespierre's execution, Prud'hon was forced to live in exile in the Franche-Comté (1794-96), where he painted several portraits and made book illustrations. Upon his return to Paris he was elected to the Institut de France and received private and public commissions for decorative projects, including, for example, the ceilings in the Greek sculpture rooms of the Louvre and designs for the celebrations of the emperor's coronation and his marriage to Marie-Louise of Austria. During the First Empire (1805-15) he became equally respected for his imperial portraits and was appointed drawing instructor of the new empress. During the Bourbon restoration (1815-23) he still received several public commissions, even though he did not sympathize with the regime. In 1802 Prud'hon's wife had to be institutionalized, leaving him to care for their five children. He would be supported in this task by his pupil, Constance Mayer (1774-1821), who not only became his mistress but also his first artistic collaborator. (Prud'hon often made the preparatory drawings for her paintings.) His last years were plagued with many problems, and Mayer's suicide in 1821 affected him tremendously. He would survive her only briefly, dying two years later in 1823. --- measurements: Sheet: 29.8 x 23.4 cm (11 3/4 x 9 3/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: description: blue wove paper faded to green-blue watermarks: inscriptions: inscription: VERSO, across bottom, in graphite: P.P. Prud'hon [illegible] / par [illegible] translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review: 1978 opening date: 1979-02-13T05:00:00 Year in Review: 1978. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 13-March 18, 1979). title: Rococo, Revolution, Restoration opening date: 1989-07-11T04:00:00 Rococo, Revolution, Restoration. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 11-September 24, 1989). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE F.G. Couper, Paris date: footnotes: citations: [F.G. Couper, Paris] date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1978." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 66, no. 1 (1979): 3-47. page number: p. 45 no. 100. url: www.jstor.org/stable/25159613 --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1978.35/1978.35_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1978.35/1978.35_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1978.35/1978.35_full.tif