Visage de jeune fille. Etude d'après nature pour la tête de "La Source".
Graphite drawing on tracing paper, signed and stamped by the Etienne Haro collection (Lugt 1241) lower left.
27 x 17 cm
Provenance :
Sale of ninety paintings, drawings, watercolors and studies from the studio of M. Ingres, Me Charles Pillet, expert M. Etienne Haro, Paris, May 6 and 7, 1867, Paris, n°48 p.23 of the sale catalog.
Private collection, France, by inheritance.
Executed on tracing paper, this gentle female face is a prelude to one of the Musée d'Orsay's most famous figures, a sculptural allegory of La Source. Begun around 1820, the canvas was not completed by the artist, assisted by two of his pupils (as was then often the practice), until 1856.
A manifesto of neo-classicism, of which Ingres was a leading exponent, this troubling young woman of pure beauty is anchored to the ground by a firm drawing that nonetheless retains grace and sensuality, thanks to the posture and modeling.
“Calm is the first beauty of the body”, thought Ingres, and pouring water from her jug, this life-size almost-cariatid faces us like a marble statue, all classical balance.
Particularly studied in our drawing, the gaze and the inclination of the face, with lips half-open, are striking elements of the composition.