May Ball

1763

Jean-Michel Moreau

Associated Names
Jean-Michel Moreau the Younger

Artist, French, 1741 - 1814

This is a painting of a ballroom scene. The composition shows an elegant and festive ballroom filled with many guests. Dancers, dressed in opulent costumes, are dancing in pairs in the center. The upper balconies are filled with onlookers. Large chandeliers illuminate the room, and garland decorations hang from the ceiling. Luxurious detailing, such as intricate fabric patterns and elaborate hairstyles, is prominent. This painting is in the style of Thomas Rowlandson.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pen and black ink with brown and gray wash, watercolor, and gouache, heightened with white gouache on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Gertrude Laughlin Chanler

  • Dimensions

    overall: 24.6 x 38.8 cm (9 11/16 x 15 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2000.9.25

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

H. H. A. Jossé (his sale, Paris, 28-29 May 1894, no. 42, as attrib. to Slodtz). (Thomas Agnew and Sons, London); The Hon. Irwin Boyle Laughlin, 1916, Washington, D.C.; his wife, Therese Iselin Laughlin, Washington, D.C., 1941; their daughter, Gertrude Laughlin Chanler, New York, 1958; gift to NGA, 2000.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1982

  • Eighteenth Century Drawings from the Collection of Mrs. Gertrude Laughlin Chanler, NGA, Washington, D.C., 1982, no. 22 (as Michel-Ange Slodtz).

2000

  • Drawings and Prints from the Permanent Collection (Summer 2000), National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2000 (no catalogue).

2009

  • Renaissance to Revolution: French Drawings from the National Gallery of Art, 1500-1800. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2009, 218-219, 289, no. 94 (color).

Bibliography

1924

  • Sharp, C.J. and A.P. Oppé. The Dance, An Historical Survey of Dancing in Europe. London, 1924: pl. 52 (as Michel-Ange Slodtz).

1967

  • Souchal, François. Les Slodtz, sculpteurs et décorateurs du roi (1685-1764). Paris, 1967: 463, 699, no. 190 (as Slodtz).

Inscriptions

by the artist, lower right in pen and brown ink: JM moreau le jeune 176[illeg.]

Watermarks

fleur-de-lis in a shield surmounted by a crown topped by a fleur-de-lis

Wikidata ID

Q64581605

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