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About the artwork
Artist supplied description.
Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s highly personal, powerful style emerged after periods of study with both François Boucher and Jean-Siméon Chardin, and over five years at the Académie de France in Rome. Entitled The Letter, or The Spanish Conversation (because of the man’s elegant attire—with a doublet of full sleeves and a wide, stiff neck ruff—a costume that was “in the Spanish mode”), this lively sheet depicts with wit and teasing ambiguity an intimate incident in an upper-class drawing room. The artist’s rapid, virtuoso draftsmanship evokes forms with what seems like a minimum of effort, and his powerful handling of brush and wash reflects his ability to capture the effects of light. The interplay between the drawing’s broad, free underdrawing and its shimmering veils of wash lend this work its charm and vivacity. The woman in this drawing is said to be Fragonard’s sister-in-law, the artist Marguerite Gérard.
Artwork metadata
Structured fields synced from connected systems.
| Medium | ink |
| Dimensions | 29 × 39 Cm |
| Tags | womenhatsmenlove lettersinteriors |
| Certificate | Certificate not provided |
Timeline
Chain of custody, exhibitions, and verification milestones synced from the provenance service.
Fri
06
Feb
note
Melissa Percival, Fragonard and the Fantasy Figure
Melissa Percival, Fragonard and the Fantasy Figure (Farnham, Surrey; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, c2012), p. 166, ill. 5.4 (ill.).
Fri
06
Feb
note
Roger Portalis, Fragonard
Roger Portalis, Fragonard (Paris, 1889), p. 300.
Fri
06
Feb
note
C. F. Foerster, J. H. Fragonard
C. F. Foerster, J. H. Fragonard (Berlin), no. 10 (ill.).
Fri
06
Feb
exhibition
Paris, Musée Luxembourg, "Fragonard Amoureax", September 16, 2015, - January 24, 2016, pp. 186, 187 (ill.), cat. 62.
Paris, Musée Luxembourg, "Fragonard Amoureax", September 16, 2015, - January 24, 2016, pp. 186, 187 (ill.), cat. 62.
Fri
06
Feb
note
The Essential Guide
The Essential Guide (Chicago, 2009), p. 299 (ill.).
Fri
06
Feb
note
Treasures from The Art Institute of Chicago, selected by James N. Wood, with commentaries by Debra N. Mancoff
Treasures from The Art Institute of Chicago, selected by James N. Wood, with commentaries by Debra N. Mancoff (Chicago, 2000), p. 140 (ill.).
Fri
06
Feb
note
Suzanne Folds McCullagh, “Drawings in the Art Institute of Chicago,” Master Drawings 38:3
Suzanne Folds McCullagh, “Drawings in the Art Institute of Chicago,” Master Drawings 38:3 (Fall 2000), pp. 241-248 (ill.).
Fri
06
Feb
exhibition
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, "French Drawings in American Collections: Clouet to Matisse, " 1958-1959, cat. 49; traveled to Paris, Musée de l’Orangerie and Rotterdam, Museum Boymans.
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, "French Drawings in American Collections: Clouet to Matisse," 1958-1959, cat. 49; traveled to Paris, Musée de l’Orangerie and Rotterdam, Museum Boymans.
Fri
06
Feb
note
Louis Reau, Fragonard, sa vie et son oeuvre
Louis Reau, Fragonard, sa vie et son oeuvre (Brussels, 1956), p. 215 (ill.).
Fri
06
Feb
exhibition
The Art Institute of Chicago, "French Drawings: Masterpieces from Seven Centuries, " 1955-1956, cat. 81.
The Art Institute of Chicago, "French Drawings: Masterpieces from Seven Centuries," 1955-1956, cat. 81.
Fri
06
Feb
note
Regina Shoolman and Charles Slatkin, Six Centuries of French Master Drawings in America
Regina Shoolman and Charles Slatkin, Six Centuries of French Master Drawings in America (New York, 1950), p. 90 (ill.).
Fri
06
Feb
note
Agnes Mongan, One Hundred Master Drawings
Agnes Mongan, One Hundred Master Drawings (Cambridge, 1949), p. 116 (ill.).
Fri
06
Feb
exhibition
Cambridge, Mass., Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, "Seventy Master Drawings, " 1948-1949, cat. 52.
Cambridge, Mass., Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, "Seventy Master Drawings," 1948-1949, cat. 52.
Fri
06
Feb
note
Hans Tietze, European Master Drawings in the United States
Hans Tietze, European Master Drawings in the United States (New York, 1947), pp. 204-205, no. 102 (ill.).
Fri
06
Feb
note
“Recent Important Acquisitions of American Collections”, The Art Quarterly, IX
“Recent Important Acquisitions of American Collections”, The Art Quarterly, IX (1946), pp. 77-78 (ill.).
Fri
06
Feb
note
"Additions to the Drawing Collection at The Art Institute of Chicago," The Connoisseur 118
"Additions to the Drawing Collection at The Art Institute of Chicago," The Connoisseur 118 (December 1946), p. 124 (ill.).
Fri
06
Feb
note
Carl Schniewind, "Chicago Reveals its Master Portfolio," Art News 45
Carl Schniewind, "Chicago Reveals its Master Portfolio," Art News 45 (March 1946), p. 18 (ill.).
Fri
06
Feb
exhibition
The Art Institute of Chicago, "Drawings Old and New, " 1946, p. 13-14, cat. 18 (ill. frontispiece), cat. by Carl O. Schniewind.
The Art Institute of Chicago, "Drawings Old and New," 1946, p. 13-14, cat. 18 (ill. frontispiece), cat. by Carl O. Schniewind.
Fri
06
Feb
note
The Art Institute of Chicago Bulletin 40:3
The Art Institute of Chicago Bulletin 40:3 (March 1946), pp. 26-28 (ill.).
Fri
06
Feb
exhibition
New York, Wildenstein and Company, "French Eighteenth Century Pastels, Watercolors, and Drawings from the David-Weill Collection, " 1938, cat. 70.
New York, Wildenstein and Company, "French Eighteenth Century Pastels, Watercolors, and Drawings from the David-Weill Collection," 1938, cat. 70.
Fri
06
Feb
note
consigned to Wildenstein and Company, New York, 1938 [New York 1938
consigned to Wildenstein and Company, New York, 1938 [New York 1938
Fri
06
Feb
note
G. Henriot, Collection David-Weill III
G. Henriot, Collection David-Weill III (Paris, 1928), p. 117 (ill.).
Fri
06
Feb
note
Georges Wildenstein, "L’Exposition Fragonard au Pavilon de Marsan," La Renaissance de l’Art Français
Georges Wildenstein, "L’Exposition Fragonard au Pavilon de Marsan," La Renaissance de l’Art Français (July 1921), p. 359 (ill.).
Fri
06
Feb
exhibition
Paris, Pavillon de Marsan, "Fragonard, " 1921, cat. 126.
Paris, Pavillon de Marsan, "Fragonard," 1921, cat. 126.
Fri
06
Feb
note
Société de Reproduction des Dessins de Maîtres
Société de Reproduction des Dessins de Maîtres (Paris, 1913), no. 5.
Fri
06
Feb
note
Commemorative Catalogue of the Exhibition of French art, 1200-1900: Royal Academy of Arts, London, January-March 1932
Commemorative Catalogue of the Exhibition of French art, 1200-1900: Royal Academy of Arts, London, January-March 1932 (London: Oxford University Press, H. Milford, 1933), cat. 687, pp. 148-9, pl. 174 (ill.).
Fri
06
Feb
exhibition
London, Royal Academy of Arts, "French Art, 1200-1900, " 1932, p. 395, cat. 808.
London, Royal Academy of Arts, "French Art, 1200-1900," 1932, p. 395, cat. 808.
Fri
06
Feb
note
sold, May 4, 1846, lot 18 [according to New York 1988]....
sold, May 4, 1846, lot 18 [according to New York 1988]. Duc Robert Montesquiou-Fezensac [Paris 1921]. David David-Weill (1871-1952), Paris, by 1913 [New York 1988]
Sun
06
Feb
note
Lynn H....
Lynn H. Nicholas, The Rape of Europa (New York, 1994), p. 93]. Sold by Arnold Seligmann, Rey and Company, New York, to the Art Institute, 1945.
Sat
06
Feb
note
James N. Wood and Sally Ruth May, The Art Institute of Chicago: The Essential Guide
James N. Wood and Sally Ruth May, The Art Institute of Chicago: The Essential Guide (Chicago, 1993), p. 211 (ill.).
Sat
06
Feb
exhibition
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Fragonard, " February 2-May 8, 1988, pp. 522-523, cat. 266 (ill.).
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Fragonard," February 2-May 8, 1988, pp. 522-523, cat. 266 (ill.).
Tue
06
Feb
note
John Russell, “A Fragonard Festival at the Frick,” The New York Times Magazine
John Russell, “A Fragonard Festival at the Frick,” The New York Times Magazine (April 15th 1979), p. 30 (ill.).
Mon
06
Feb
exhibition
Washington, D.C., The National Gallery of Art, "Drawings by Fragonard in North American Collections, " November 19, 1978-January 21, 1978, p. 114, cat. 43 (ill.), cat. by Eunice Williams; traveled to Cambridge, Mass., Fogg Art Museum...
Washington, D.C., The National Gallery of Art, "Drawings by Fragonard in North American Collections," November 19, 1978-January 21, 1978, p. 114, cat. 43 (ill.), cat. by Eunice Williams; traveled to Cambridge, Mass., Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, February 16-April 1, 1979; and New York, the Frick Collection, April 20-June 3, 1979.
Sun
06
Feb
exhibition
Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut, "Französische Zeichnungen aus dem Art Institute of Chicago, " February 10-April 10, 1977, pp. 44-45, cat. 17 (ill.).
Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut, "Französische Zeichnungen aus dem Art Institute of Chicago," February 10-April 10, 1977, pp. 44-45, cat. 17 (ill.).
Sun
06
Feb
note
Harold Joachim and compiled by Sandra Haller Olsen,French Drawings and Sketchbooks of the Eighteenth Century
Harold Joachim and compiled by Sandra Haller Olsen,French Drawings and Sketchbooks of the Eighteenth Century (Chicago, 1977), pp. 26-27, no. 1E2.
Fri
06
Feb
exhibition
The Art Institute of Chicago, "Selected Works of 18th Century French Art in the Collections of The Art Institute of Chicago, " January 24-March 28, 1976, pp. 66-67, cat. 60 (ill.).
The Art Institute of Chicago, "Selected Works of 18th Century French Art in the Collections of The Art Institute of Chicago," January 24-March 28, 1976, pp. 66-67, cat. 60 (ill.).
Fri
06
Feb
exhibition
Paris, Musée du Louvre, "Dessins français de l’Art Institute de Chicago de Watteau à Picasso, " October 15, 1976-January 17, 1977, n.p., cat. 18 (ill.).
Paris, Musée du Louvre, "Dessins français de l’Art Institute de Chicago de Watteau à Picasso," October 15, 1976-January 17, 1977, n.p., cat. 18 (ill.).
Fri
06
Feb
exhibition
The Art Institute of Chicago, "A Quarter Century of Collecting: Drawings Given to The Art Institute of Chicago, 1944-1970 by Margaret Day Blake, " April 28-June 7, 1970, n.p., cat. 22 (ill.).
The Art Institute of Chicago, "A Quarter Century of Collecting: Drawings Given to The Art Institute of Chicago, 1944-1970 by Margaret Day Blake," April 28-June 7, 1970, n.p., cat. 22 (ill.).
Wed
06
Feb
exhibition
New York, Wildenstein and Company, "Master Drawings from The Art Institute of Chicago, " October 17-November 30, 1963, n.p., cat. 60, pl. XX.
New York, Wildenstein and Company, "Master Drawings from The Art Institute of Chicago," October 17-November 30, 1963, n.p., cat. 60, pl. XX.
Mon
06
Feb
note
Alexandre Ananoff, L’Oeuvre Dessiné de Jean-Honoré Fragonard I
Alexandre Ananoff, L’Oeuvre Dessiné de Jean-Honoré Fragonard I (Paris, 1961), p. 59, no. 74, fig. 32.
Sun
06
Feb
note
sold, April 11, 1791, lot 347....
sold, April 11, 1791, lot 347. Saint
Sat
06
Feb
note
Sold, May 31, 1790, Anonymous sale, lot 323....
Sold, May 31, 1790, Anonymous sale, lot 323. Jean-Baptiste Pierre Lebrun (1748-1813), Paris
© Artist-Unknown. All rights reserved.