Attributed To Constance Charpentier (1767-1849) - Male Nude Study

Constance CHARPENTIER (1767-1849)
Study of a male nude

Charcoal and highlights with white chalk

Dimensions: 56.5 x 43.87 cm

Provenance
Private collection, France

Note
A student of Jacques-Louis David (1748 -1825), Constance Charpentier was quickly considered one of the best portrait artists of her time. She regularly exhibited at the Salon and distinguished herself with a gold medal in 1814. This academy, presented today, is all the more exceptional as it represents a nude male model and is the work of a female painter. Going against the social norms of the time, David chose to teach young women and, although he had to close the studio he had opened in 1787, we know he opened a new one on Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Martin where he regularly placed some of his drawings as models. Perhaps it was in this context that our painter had access to nude models, suggesting that she would have the opportunity to try her hand at the Grand Genre. Our drawing is from the same series as a drawing that was sold at Aguttes on March 25, 2021, lot 79 (€14,300 including fees).