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Sweet Melancholy
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The Cleveland Museum of Art

Sweet Melancholy

Description

The chair, brazier, table, and the setting all show Vien's interest in bringing archaeological accuracy to a new level of precision. Yet his delicate handling and graceful palette derive squarely from 18th-century French painting. The gesture of the melancholic figure, with her head on her hand, has roots going back to the Renaissance. Nonetheless, the painting has a wistful rather than tragic tone. Indeed, images of women in interiors, contemplating a letter with longing or sadness, derive from earlier Dutch paintings of daily life, here transformed into an ancient context.

Provenance

Madame Marie-Thérèse Geoffrin [1699-1777], Paris, France; Jean Louis Antoine le Vaillant de Damery, Chevalier de l’Ordre Royal Militaire de St-Louis [1723-1803]; Comte Jean-Baptiste Dubarry [1723-1794], Toulouse, France; (Sale: Jean-Pierre-Baptiste Le Brun and Pierre Remy, Paris, Dubarry sale, Nov. 21, 1774, no. 93, probably bought in); (Pierre Remy, Paris, France); Louis François, 6th Prince de Conti [1717-1776], Paris, France; (Sale: Pierre Remy, Paris, France, Prince de Conti sale, April 17, 1777, no. 732, sold to Quenet); Quenet, Paris, France; Jean Paul André des Rasins, Marquis de Saint-Marc [1723-1818], Paris, France, by descent to his daughter, Marie de la Roze; Marie de la Roze; (Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Marquis de Saint-Marc sale, Paris, Feb. 23, 1859, no. 17); (Wildenstein & Company, New York, NY, sold to a private collector, UK); Private noble collection, UK, sold to Danny Katz and Simon Dickinson through William Thuillier; (William Thuillier, Paris, France, sold to Danny Katz and Simon Dickinson); (Danny Katz and Simon Dickinson, London, the latter bought out by the former); Danny Katz, London, sold to Emmanuel Moatti and Jack Kilgore; (Emmanuel Moatti and Jack Kilgore, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

Dimensions

68 × 55 cm

Accession No

1996.1

Curatorial Affinity Stream

Continuing the Universe of Joseph-Marie Vien (French, 1716–1809)

European Painting and Sculpture • France, 18th century • Harmonious Works & Contemporaries