Adonis

c. 1810-1812

Pierre Paul Prud'hon

Associated Names
Pierre Paul Prud'hon

Artist, French, 1758 - 1823

The image depicts a person standing on one leg with the other leg bent and slightly raised. The individual has one hand resting across the chest, and the head is tilted downward. The facial features are soft, with a serene expression, and the hair is curly, framing the face delicately. The person is not wearing any clothing. The background consists of a textured, somewhat indistinct environment, with darker shading around the figure, possibly representing foliage or abstract forms against a light-colored canvas. The image has a monochromatic appearance, executed in shades of gray on a bluish-gray paper.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
Not on view See artworks now on view

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    black chalk with white chalk heightening on blue paper

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall: 60.8 x 45.7 cm (23 15/16 x 18 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1972.48.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Binder à l'Isle-Adam; (sale, Paris, April 8, 1873, lot 61); Jean Stern; Dr. Fritz Nathan and Dr. Peter Nathan, Zurich

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1974

  • NGA Recent Acquisitions 1974, no. 56.

1993

  • Visions of Antiquity: Neoclassical Figure Drawings, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Philadelphia Museum of Art; The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1993-1994, no. 45.

Bibliography

1876

  • Goncourt, Edmond de, and Jules de Goncourt. French XVIII century painters. Translated by Robin Ironside. Ithaca, 1981: 327.

1923

  • Martine, Charles and Léon Marotte. Pierre-Paul Prud'hon: Soixante-douze reproductions...accompagnées d'une vie du peintre.... Vol. 3 of Dessins des maîtres français. Paris, 1923: no. 61.

1924

  • Guiffrey, Jean. L'Oeuvre de P.-P. Prud'hon. Paris, 1924: no. 171.

1970

  • Slayman, James Hugus. "The Drawings of Pierre-Paul Prud'hon: A Critical Study." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1970: pl. 56.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 678, no. 1089, color repro.

1989

  • Ingamells, John. The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Pictures. Vol. 3, French before 1815. London, 1989: 324-325, under P347.

1996

  • Elderfield, John. The Language of The Body: Drawings by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon. New York, 1996.

1998

  • Laveissière, Sylvain. Pierre-Paul Prud'hon. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris, 1998, 246, under no. 177.

2001

  • Guffey, Elizabeth E. Drawing an Elusive Line, The Art of Pierre-Paul Prud'hon. Newark, Delaware, and London, 2001, 116, fig. 76.

Wikidata ID

Q64619623

You may be interested in

Loading Results