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Circle of Jean-Honoré FRAGONARD, late 18th century. "Drawing…
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Lot no. 206
Estimate: €1,500 - €2,500
Sale date : 11/20/2025 at 10:00 AM
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Drawings, watercolours & pastels
Description
Circle of Jean-Honoré FRAGONARD, late 18th century. "Drawing in pencil and white highlights on paper, pasted on cardboard. 22x14 cm. Framed under glass. Creases and a small tear top right. Bibliography: - Gustave Kahn, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Paris, 1907, special issue of L'Art et le Beau, repr. under the title Variante du Verrou, p. 20. - Gustave Kahn, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Berlin (Marquardt & Co), 1912, repr. under the title Variante zum Riegel. - Jean-Honoré Fragonard, exhibition catalogue, Nice, 1907, under the title Variante du Verrou (sketch with 2 pencils), p. 10 Exhibition: Jean-Honoré Fragonard, exhibition organised by l'Artistique à Nice, 2 place Grimaldi, in aid of the monument erected to the glory of Fragonard by his native town, Grasse, from 16 February to 11 March 1907, under no. 33. Provenance : - Former collection of Alexandre Véron Duverger (1845-1913), lawyer at the Conseil d'Etat and the Cour de cassation, and of his wife Sophie Montenard (1852-1914): label on the back and mention in the 1907 catalogue. Fragonard's Verrou, popularised by the engraving by Blot (1784), inspired many of his contemporaries. Our drawing most certainly takes up this work with the idea of reversing both the actions and the positions: it is the woman who closes the bolt and she is seen from the front. This front view obliged the artist to place the door on the left-hand wall (and not on the back wall, as in Fragonard), as it would have been almost impossible to operate the bolt by turning the right hand. What we have here, then, is a clever draughtsman who is not copying Fragonard's composition, but ostensibly hijacking it - while remaining realistic - and giving it more spice, since here it is the woman who is taking the initiative. It is therefore an attempt at a counterpart to the Verrou.
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