Jacques-Louis David

J. David, Le peintre Louis David, t. I, Paris 1880, p. 664, listé au catalogue des oeuvres de Louis David sous le titre: 'Vieille femme et jeune fille';
P. Rosenberg et L.-A. Prat, Catalogue Raisonné des dessins de Jacques-Louis David, t. I, Milan 2002, no. 332 bis, p. 312, reproduit.

Very good overall condition. The paper is slightly yellow. The drawing is lighter than catalogue.
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En 1816, Jacques-Louis David fut contraint à l'exil en raison de ses activités politiques. Il envisagea d'abord de fuir en Italie mais sa demande d'asile lui fut refusée, malgré le soutien de Pie VII. Il décida alors de se rendre en Belgique, le 27 janvier 1816, et y resta jusqu'à sa mort. Durant son exil, il fit de nombreux portraits souvent à deux ou trois personnages, parmi lesquels on compte plusieurs dessins. Le plus célèbre de ces portraits est celui de Zénaïde et Charlotte Bonaparte, huile sur toile, réalisée en 1821 et conservée au J. Paul Getty Museum de Los Angeles.

Les deux femmes semblent être des réminiscences d'oeuvres de David. On retrouve la jeune femme à gauche dans le dessin du Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand, Deux jeunes filles entourant une vieille femme, vues en buste (voir l'illustration fig.1).¹ Le personnage de droite, quant à lui, nous évoque la femme âgée au centre du célèbre tableau de l'artiste Les Sabines (1799, Musée du Louvre). Toutes deux portent le même voile qui protège leurs cheveux. Durant son exil bruxellois David a souvent répété "de souvenir" des détails de tableaux antérieurs.

Notre dessin fait partie des oeuvres que l'artiste devait considérer lui-même comme aboutis, ce qui explique en effet la signature, la date et la localisation. On retrouve assez régulièrement ces données sur les "travaux de mémoire" de Bruxelles, qui ne sont pas considérés comme des études.

1. Voir Rosenberg et Prat, op. cit., no. 328, p. 308

In 1816, Jacques-Louis David was forced into exile, on account of his political activities. Initially, he thought to flee to Italy but his request for asylum there was denied, despite the entreaties of Pope Pius VII. He therefore decided to go instead to Belgium, arriving there on 27 January 1816, and remaining until his death. During his exile he made numerous portraits, including many drawing, often representing two or three figures. The most famous of these portraits is that of Zénaïde and Charlotte Bonaparte (oil on canvas), painted in 1821 and now in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

The two women seen here seem to be reminiscences of other works by David. The young woman on the left can also be found in the drawing of Two young women and an old woman, bust-length, in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Ghent¹ (see fig.1). As for the figure to the right, she evokes the elderly woman in the centre of the artist's famous painting, The Sabines (1799, Musée du Louvre).  Both wear the same veil protecting their hair.  During his exile in Brussels, David often repeated from memory details from his earlier paintings.

Our drawing is one of the works that the artist himself must have considered satisfactory, which explains the signature, the date and the locating inscription. One regularly finds information of this type on these Brussels "works from memory", which cannot be considered as studies.

1. See Rosenberg et Prat, op. cit., no. 328, p. 308