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an image of a drawing of a woman holding her hand upa drawing of a woman holding a flower in her right handa drawing of a woman ' s head and hands in a framea piece of brown paper on a white surfacean old wooden picture frame with a blank paper in the middlea sculpture of a man standing in a room with a painting on the wall
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11 - Pierre PUVIS DE CHAVANNES (1824–1898)
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Estimate €80,000 - €120,000
Sale commission
Description
Pierre PUVIS DE CHAVANNES (1824–1898) Head and hand of a woman, study for ‘Saint Geneviève as a Child in Prayer’ – circa 1875–1876 Charcoal, graphite, stump and highlights in white chalk with grid markings Bears the catalogue number in the hand of Maître Paul Delapalme, liquidator of the artist’s estate, at the bottom centre: ‘No. 9 / …th piece’ 56.5 x 46.5 cm Provenance: Remained in the artist’s family; the stamp of the artist’s estate (Lugt L.2104) in the bottom right-hand corner Collection of Mlle Jordan, Rue Madame, Paris, 1972 Galerie Aaron & Cie, Paris Acquired from the gallery by the current owner at the Salon du Dessin on 28 March 2019 Louis Grandchamp des Raux Collection Exhibitions: Paris, Galerie Jacques Blot, ‘Some Drawings and Paintings by Puvis de Chavannes’, with a preface by Maurice Denis, 4–9 March 1941 Paris, Musée Galliera, ‘Drawings and Small Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes’, 1952, no. 99 Paris, Grand Palais; Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, *Puvis de Chavannes 1824–1898*, November 1976–May 1977, p. 137, no. 112, reproduced on p. 141 Bibliography: H. Puvis de Chavannes, “Paintings and Drawings by Puvis de Chavannes”, in *Beaux-Arts*, 7 March 1941, reproduced on p. 5 *Journal de l’Amateur d’art*, no. 89, 25 April 1952, reproduced on p. 17 *L’Estampille l’Objet d’art*, no. 554, March 2019, reproduced on p. 76 The authenticity of this work has been recognised by the Pierre Puvis de Chavannes Committee in a certificate issued on 16 February 2019 under reference number 19-02-16. It may be provided to the purchaser. Charcoal, graphite, stump and white chalk highlights with squaring; 22 1/4 x 18 1/4 in. From the reign of Louis XV to the Third Republic, from the Basilica of Sainte-Geneviève to the Panthéon, the building commissioned from the architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot in 1755 has oscillated between political and religious functions. As regimes changed, the Panthéon’s décor continued to evolve. Our drawing takes us back to 1874, when Philippe de Chennevières, having just been appointed Minister of Fine Arts, commissioned a major iconographic cycle retracing France’s national and religious history for the Church of Sainte-Geneviève, which became the Panthéon in its own right in 1885. Puvis de Chavannes, along with eleven other artists, were commissioned to contribute to the realisation of the project, described as: ‘A vast poem in painting and sculpture to the glory of Saint Geneviève, who will remain the most idealised figure of our nation’s earliest days; a poem in which the legend of the patron saint of Paris would be combined with the marvellous history of France’s Christian origins’. The Third Republic’s aim was, in fact, to completely reshape the construction of the national narrative and to reaffirm the Christian dimension of the nation’s past. After so much turmoil and violent political upheaval, this desire for synthesis was intended, above all, to foster a climate of calm and unity.   A first group of works centres on the childhood of Saint Geneviève, focusing on her encounter with Saint Germain of Auxerre. Intended to adorn the south wall at the entrance to the monument, the painting depicting Saint Geneviève as a child at prayer is described precisely in the cartouche on the canvas: ‘From her earliest years, Saint Geneviève showed signs of fervent piety, constantly in prayer; she filled all who saw her with surprise and admiration. ’ The final work, of monumental dimensions, was exhibited at the 1876 Salon, then installed in situ on 22 May 1877. Puvis de Chavannes presents a new iconography: his highly poetic composition depicts the child saint, dressed in immaculate white, kneeling in prayer before a wooden cross. The atmosphere of the scene is bucolic: a peasant has paused from ploughing in the background, sheep are grazing, and a couple are watching the young girl. Identified at times as the saint’s parents and at others as a couple of woodcutters, these figures serve as witnesses and admonishing figures, inviting the viewer to follow their gaze. Our drawing is a study for the head and right hand of the woman depicted in the foreground. Another preparatory sketch for this figure is held at the Musée Sainte-Croix in Poitiers.¹ These two drawings bear witness to the artist’s creative process, in which he meticulously prepared his pictorial projects, revealing the fundamental importance of drawing in the development of his mural compositions. Puvis de Chavannes precisely sketches the details of this woman’s face on a squared sheet of paper, rendering the shadows through an extensive network of hatching and the light through highlights of white chalk. It is the full delicacy and power of Puvis de Chavannes’s brushwork that is expressed here, and which never ceases to captivate us. 1. Inv. No.: 899.1.2 Pierre PUVIS DE CHAVANNES (1824–1898) 56.5 x 46.5 cm The Panthéon, commissioned from the architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot in 1755, has oscillated between political and religious functions from the reign of Louis XV to the Third Republic. As regimes changed, the Panthéon’s interior decoration continued to evolve. Our drawing takes us back to 1874, when Philippe de Chennevières, having just been appointed Minister of Fine Arts, commissioned a major series of works retracing the national and religious history of France for the Church of Sainte-Geneviève, which became the Panthéon in 1885. Puvis de Chavannes, along with eleven other artists, were invited to contribute to the project described as “a vast poem of painting and sculpture in honour of Saint Geneviève, who will remain the most perfect figure from our people’s earliest days—a poem in which the legend of the patron saint of Paris is interwoven with the wondrous history of France’s Christian origins”. The aim of the Third Republic was, in fact, to completely reshape the national narrative and to reaffirm the Christian dimension of the nation’s past. After so much turmoil and violent political upheaval, there was a need and a desire for calm and unity. An initial group of works was conceived around the childhood of Saint Geneviève, centred on the *Rencontre avec Saint Germain d’Auxerre*. The painting depicting *Sainte Geneviève en Prière*, intended for the south wall at the entrance to the monument, is described by the cartouche on the canvas: ‘From a very young age, Saint Geneviève showed signs of fervent piety; constantly in prayer, she filled all who saw her with awe and admiration’. The finished work, of monumental size, was exhibited at the Salon of 1876, then installed in situ on 22 May 1877. Puvis de Chavannes offered a new kind of iconography – his composition was poetic, depicting the child saint in a garment of immaculate white, kneeling in prayer before a wooden cross. The atmosphere of the scene is bucolic; a peasant in the background has stopped working, the sheep are grazing and a couple are watching the young girl. Identified at times as the saint’s parents and at others as a couple of woodcutters, the latter are present as witnesses and cautionary figures, inviting the viewer to follow their gaze. This drawing is a study for the head and right hand of the woman in the foreground. Another preparatory sketch for this figure is held at the Musée Sainte-Croix in Poitiers (1). These two drawings illustrate the artist’s creative process and meticulous preparation, revealing the fundamental importance of drawing in the development of his murals. Puvis de Chavannes meticulously traces the details of this woman’s face on a squared sheet of paper, rendering the shadows using an extensive network of hatching and the light by means of white chalk. It is the full delicacy and power of Puvis de Chavannes’s artistic touch that is expressed here, and which never ceases to captivate us.
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About the sale The Louis Grandchamp des Raux Collection
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Auction time 10/24/2026 at 4:00 PM
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