Drawn to Life – Works on Paper from a Distinguished Private Collection
Charles de la Fosse
Study of the head, torso and left arm of a male figure and a separate study of his head in profile
Estimate
18,000 - 22,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Drawn to Life – Works on Paper from a Distinguished Private Collection
Charles de La Fosse
(Paris 1636 - 1716))
Study of the head, torso and left arm of a male figure and a separate study of his head in profile
Red and black chalk with traces of white heightening, on buff paper;
bears numbering in pen and brown ink, verso: 1340
327 by 232 mm
Peter Wick, Boston;
Private collection;
sale, London, Sotheby's, 8 July 2015, lot 120,
where acquired by present owner.
This bold, powerful drawing is an example of La Fosse's figure style at its very best. The artist has used the sheet to great effect creating a very pleasing mise en page. As with the majority of his sketches, La Fosse’s careful placement of studies often translates to a successful pictorial composition.
It has not been possible to establish a definite link between these studies and any known painting by the artist, but it has been suggested that this may be a preparatory study for one of the subsidiary figures in the painting of Saint Matthew, now in the Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, originally commissioned for one of the pendentives of the dome in the church of the Invalides, executed between 1702 and 1706.1 Whilst this connection seems plausible, numerous figures with arms raised inhabit La Fosse’s paintings, making this specific link quite difficult to confirm.
1.C. Gustin-Gomez, Charles de la Fosse 1636-1716, Dijon 2006, vol. II, p. 109, no. P. 159
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