L'Invite

About the Artwork

Although Trinquesse painted in oil, he is best known today for the series of red chalk drawings of full-length female figures in domestic settings to which this sheet belongs. These works fall somewhere between portraiture and genre scenes (scenes of everyday life) and focus on nuances of pose, gesture, and expression. The traditional title of this work suggests the woman is making a flirtatious overture to an unseen male companion.

Inscriptions

by artist, lower right, in red chalk: le 9 Septembre / 1775.; verso of secondary support, lower center, in graphite: 243 x 358 [superscript "3" and "8" underlined]

Provenance

Galerie Cailleux, Paris; sold to Alexandre Ananoff, Paris, in 1969 (according to Cailleux archives; Ananoff stamp, lower right, in black ink); [Schaeffer Galleries, New York]; purchased in 1973.

Exhibition history

French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26-October 28, 2001); Dahesh Museum of Art (February 19-May 18, 2002).

Quick Overview

Artist: Louis Rolland Trinquesse (French, c. 1746–c. 1800)
Date: 1775
Medium: Sanguine on white woven paper
Dimensions: Sheet: 36 x 24.5 cm (14 3/16 x 9 5/8 in.)
Type: Drawing
Classification: Drawing
Department: Drawings
Credit line: Bequest of Muriel Butkin
Accession no.: 2008.364

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.