Charles Etienne le Guay

The artist's studio,

thence by descent;

with Artemis Fine Arts Sarl, Paris, by 2003,

where acquired by the present owner

Charles Etienne le Guay was an artist whose versatility as a draughtsman has resulted in his surviving graphic oeuvre being broad and, at times, relatively undefined. He was most highly regarded during his lifetime for his refined portrait drawings, typically executed with great precision in black chalk with abundant stumping; a characteristic example, highly comparable to the present work though less ambitious in scale, was previously on the New York art market.¹ This technique was clearly adapted from and indebted to his training as a miniaturist, an art form at which he also clearly excelled, as is evident from the exquisite Portrait of a Lady, recently sold from the celebrated Pohl-Ströher collection.²

¹Sale, New York, Christie's, 30 January 2018, lot 91

²Sale, London, Sotheby's, The Pohl-Ströher Collection of Portrait Miniatures Part II, 4 July 2019, lot 135