Jean-Baptiste GREUZE (1725-1805) - Lot 43

Jean-Baptiste GREUZE (1725-1805) "Portrait of a young girl in three-quarter bust, her hair held back in a gray fichu tied at the top of her head" Oil on canvas, lined. (Restorations). 41.5 x 32.5 cm Accompanied by a certificate dated September 21, 2012 from Mr. Edgar Munhall, confirming its attribution to Jean-Baptiste Greuze, which will be given to the purchaser. Related work : The painting of the same subject held in a private collection appeared in two Parisian sales: the first on February 9, 1905, no. 47, repr. from "M. H-J. Mandle", the second on February 19-20, 1932, no. 10, repr. from the estate of Madame la marquise de X. An incomparable draftsman detached from the French rocaille taste, which he considered too frivolous, Jean-Baptiste Greuze emphasized the glorification of the sensibility of his subjects, who were meant to uplift the viewer's soul. After a stay in Italy, from which he would retain only his work on the expression of figures, Greuze inaugurated a new genre that upset the critics. These were genre scenes, in which the elements are reminiscent of large-scale history painting, but in which the expression of feelings reigns supreme: an unprecedented interest in French painting, born of his many life drawings. As a keen observer, Greuze sketched many portraits of children, whose natural spontaneity made them thought-provoking subjects that delighted the eye of his most erudite contemporaries. Our painting, a true rediscovery in the artist's oeuvre, evokes the "delicate and sensitive soul" (Diderot) of a young girl. The work is an exceptional and rare testimony to a study or first thought for a "simple" portrait, which thus relates the importance given to the psychological study of each of his subjects. With a swift, supple, enveloping stroke, Greuze brings to life this delicate portrait of a young girl in three-quarter bust, looking to the right. Against a plain copper-brown background, the soft, blended strokes of a restricted chromatic range reveal brown hair held back by a gray kerchief tied at the top of the head. Light emanating from the left side of the composition reveals the few quick brushstrokes full of substance that define her face, enhanced by thick touches of pink defining her round cheeks, underscoring the sweetness of childhood. Greuze had many imitators, but they never equaled him in the dramatic intensity of his work. Through his portraits, of which our work is a perfect example, Greuze developed a new genre, a painting of exalted feelings that places the figure of the child at the center of attention.