Venus

c. 1810-1812

Pierre Paul Prud'hon

Associated Names
Pierre Paul Prud'hon
Artist, French, 1758 - 1823
The artwork depicts a nude female figure reclining on her side. Her body is in a pose, with her left arm extended upward and her right arm resting on the surface beneath her. Her head is tilted back slightly, and she is looking towards her raised hand. Her hair is styled with a wreath-like adornment. The figure is set against a softly shaded background, with foliage or textured elements behind her. The tone of the artwork is muted, with light and shadow on the figure’s form. The paper has visible spots, adding an aged appearance to the piece.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    black chalk with white chalk heightening on blue-gray paper

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall: 60.9 x 45.2 cm (24 x 17 13/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1972.48.2

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Binder à l'Isle-Adam; (sale, Paris, April 8, 1873, lot 60); 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. 44.

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. 62.

1924

  • Guiffrey, Jean. L'Oeuvre de P.-P. Prud'hon. Paris, 1924: no. 172.

1970

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

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 678, no. 1088, 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. The 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 (not illus.).

Wikidata ID

Q64619624

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