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Life class at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture
Maker
(artist)
1700-1777
1700-1777
Title
Life class at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture
Date of Production
1746
Medium
pen, black and brown ink, grey wash and watercolour, graphite over black chalk on laid paper, now laid down on Japanese tissue
Dimensions
Height: 45.3 cm
Width: 32.2 cm
Width: 32.2 cm
Accession Number
D.1952.RW.3973
Mode of Acquisition
Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952
Credit
The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Copyright
Work in the public domain
Location
Not currently on display
Keywords
Label Text
Natoire was an instructor at the Royal Academy in Paris. He depicts himself here in a red cloak correcting a pupil’s drawing. Other students are drawing from the two life models posed on the table in the centre. The paintings on the walls and casts of antique statues, including the Farnese Hercules seen from the back at left, serve as honoured prototypes. Natoire kept this ambitious, elaborately finished work until his death, suggesting it was a personal manifesto of the importance of academic drawing.
Provenance
possibly the artist's sale, Paillet (Paris), 14 December 1778, lot 100; purchased there by Aubert (120 livres); Gilbert Paignon-Dijonval (1708-1792); Bruzard (?); his sale, Defer (Paris), 23 - 26 April 1839, part of lot 208; Walker Galleries (London); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt (1872-1952), n.d.; Witt Bequest 1952
Exhibition History
Drawn from the Antique: Artists and the Classical Ideal, Sir John Soane's Museum, London, 25/06/2015-26/09/2015
Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, The Frick Collection, New York, 02/10/2012-27/01/2013
Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 14/06/2012-09/09/2012 ...More
D'Apres L'Antique - Beau Comme l'Antique, Paris & France, 16/10/2000-15/01/2001
A Painting in Focus - Jean Bernard Restour's Somnus, Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, 14/03/1999-23/05/1999
French Drawings: XVI-XIX Centuries, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 04/07/1991-06/10/1991
French drawings of the 17th and 18th century, Fermoy Art Gallery, King's Lynn, 1985
France in the eighteenth century, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 06/01/1968-03/03/1968
unnumbered typescript - title was possibly 'A Selection of Drawings from The Witt/Courtauld Collections [as exhibited in 1964 at University of Sussex, Falmer]', Nottingham University, 1966
Master Drawings from the Witt and Courtauld Collections, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, 17/11/1962-22/12/1962
A selection of drawings from the Witt collection: French drawings c. 1600-c. 1800, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1962
French Master Drawings, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea, 1962
French Masters - Rococo to Romanticism, UCLA, Los Angeles, 1961
Drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1958-59
Drawings from the Witt Collection at the Courtauld Institute of Art, St James's Square, London; York City Art Gallery; Peterborough Art Gallery, 1953
Drawings by Old Masters, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1953
French Master Drawings of the 18th century, Matthiesen Gallery, London, 1950 ...Less
Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, The Frick Collection, New York, 02/10/2012-27/01/2013
Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 14/06/2012-09/09/2012 ...More
D'Apres L'Antique - Beau Comme l'Antique, Paris & France, 16/10/2000-15/01/2001
A Painting in Focus - Jean Bernard Restour's Somnus, Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, 14/03/1999-23/05/1999
French Drawings: XVI-XIX Centuries, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 04/07/1991-06/10/1991
French drawings of the 17th and 18th century, Fermoy Art Gallery, King's Lynn, 1985
France in the eighteenth century, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 06/01/1968-03/03/1968
unnumbered typescript - title was possibly 'A Selection of Drawings from The Witt/Courtauld Collections [as exhibited in 1964 at University of Sussex, Falmer]', Nottingham University, 1966
Master Drawings from the Witt and Courtauld Collections, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, 17/11/1962-22/12/1962
A selection of drawings from the Witt collection: French drawings c. 1600-c. 1800, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1962
French Master Drawings, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea, 1962
French Masters - Rococo to Romanticism, UCLA, Los Angeles, 1961
Drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1958-59
Drawings from the Witt Collection at the Courtauld Institute of Art, St James's Square, London; York City Art Gallery; Peterborough Art Gallery, 1953
Drawings by Old Masters, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1953
French Master Drawings of the 18th century, Matthiesen Gallery, London, 1950 ...Less
Literature
Figure d'artiste, Petite galerie du Louvre, Paris, 25 September 2019 - 29 June 2020
95-97
Christopher Lloyd, Impressionist & Post-Impressionist Drawings, 2019, New York, New York: Thames & Hudson.
cat. no. no.5 on p.15
Drawn from the Antique: Artists and the Classical Ideal, Sir John Soane's Museum, London, 2015, 2015
no. 16
ill. on p. 155 ...More
Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, Frick Collection, New York and Courtauld Gallery, London London 2012-2013
pp. 161-65
The male nude: eighteenth-century drawings from the Paris Academy, Wallace Collection, London, 2013-14, 2013
pp. 8, 69
fig. 24
Rowell, Christopher, 'François Lemoyne's "Annunciation" (1727) redisovered at Winchester College' in 'Burlington Magazine', March 2012 - 177-81; CLIV
p. 180
fig. 9 on p. 179
Caviglia-Brunel, Susanna, Charles-Joseph Natoire (1700-1777), Paris 2012
pp. 122, 336, no. D370
ill.
Petherbridge, Deanna, The primacy of drawing: histories and theories of practice, New Haven 2010
p. 222
fig. 152
L’académie mise à nu: l’école du modèle à l’Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts, Paris, 2009-10, 2009
p. 40
fig. 13
Scherf, Guilhem, 'Visions of Sculpture: Some French Eighteenth-Century Sculptures Seen by Draftsmen and Painters' in 'Collecting Sculpture in Early Modern Europe: Studies in the History of Art. 70. Symposium Papers XLVII', Washington, New Haven and London 2008
p. 360
photocopy in file for D.1978.PG.228
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Institut Néerlandais, Paris, 2002-03, De Watteau à Ingres: dessins français du XVIIIe siècle du Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, 2002
pp. 85-88, under no. 25
D'après l'antique, Musée du Louvre, 16 October 2000-15 January 2001, 2000-01
cat. no. 210
ill. on p. 406
Foster, Carter E., 'Jean-Bernard Restout's Sleep-Figure Study: painting and drawing from life at the French Royal Academy of painting and sculpture' in 'Cleveland Studies in the History of Art', 1998; 3
pp. 55-57
fig. 13 on p. 55
Harvard University Art Museum; Art Gallery of Ontario; Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris; etc., Mastery & elegance: two centuries of French drawings from the collection of Jeffrey E. Horvitz, Cambridge, Mass. 1998
fig. 6 on p. 30
Sheriff, Mary. The Exceptional Woman: Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun and the Cultural Politics of Art (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1996)
p. 61
fig. 10 on p. 61
Tradition & Revolution in French Art 1700-1880: paintings and drawings from Lille, National Gallery of Art, London, 1993
fig. 19 on p. 32
Drawing: masters and methods: Raphael to Redon, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1992, 1992
p. 11
fig. 4 on p. 10
Le Rouge et le noir, cent dessins francais de 1700 a 1850, Galerie Cailleux, Paris, 1 October - 9 November 1991
under no. 25
Borne, François, 'Excellence in obscurity: French drawings at the Courtauld Institute of Art' in 'Apollo', September 1991 - pp. 192-94; CXXXIV, 355
p. 194
pl. I on p. 193
French Drawings: XVI-XIX Centuries, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1991
no. 35, p. 80
ill. on p. 81
Roland Michel, Marianne, Le dessin français au XVIIIe siècle, Fribourg 1987
pp. 58-59
fig. 45
Bordeaux, Jean-Luc, François Le Moyne and his generation, 1688-1737, Neuilly-sur-Seine 1984
p. 108
Eighteenth-century French life-drawing: selections from the Collection of Mathias Polakovits, Princeton, 1977, 1977
pp. 22-23
fig. 3
Charles-Joseph Natoire: peintures, dessins, estampes et tapisseries des collections publiques francaises, Troyes, Musée des beaux-arts; Nîmes, Musée des beaux-arts; Rome, Villa Médicis, 1977, 1977
p. 80 under no. 42
Anthony Blunt and Philip Troutman, Master Drawings from the Witt and Courtauld Collections, 1962
cat. no. 63
Drawings from the Witt Collection, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1958 - 1959
cat. no. 68
Mirimonde, A.P. de, ‘L’impromptu du Plafond, ou l’Apothéose de Saint-Louis par Natoire’ in ‘La Revue des Arts’, 1958 - pp. 279-284; 6
p. 282
fig. 3
Drawings by Old Masters, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1953
cat. no. 391
Drawings from the Witt Collection at the Courtauld Institute of Art, St James's Square, London, York City Art Gallery and Peterborough Art Gallery, 1953
cat. no. 79
Bénard, M., Cabinet de M. Paignon Dijonval, Paris 1810
no. 3348 ...Less
95-97
Christopher Lloyd, Impressionist & Post-Impressionist Drawings, 2019, New York, New York: Thames & Hudson.
cat. no. no.5 on p.15
Drawn from the Antique: Artists and the Classical Ideal, Sir John Soane's Museum, London, 2015, 2015
no. 16
ill. on p. 155 ...More
Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, Frick Collection, New York and Courtauld Gallery, London London 2012-2013
pp. 161-65
The male nude: eighteenth-century drawings from the Paris Academy, Wallace Collection, London, 2013-14, 2013
pp. 8, 69
fig. 24
Rowell, Christopher, 'François Lemoyne's "Annunciation" (1727) redisovered at Winchester College' in 'Burlington Magazine', March 2012 - 177-81; CLIV
p. 180
fig. 9 on p. 179
Caviglia-Brunel, Susanna, Charles-Joseph Natoire (1700-1777), Paris 2012
pp. 122, 336, no. D370
ill.
Petherbridge, Deanna, The primacy of drawing: histories and theories of practice, New Haven 2010
p. 222
fig. 152
L’académie mise à nu: l’école du modèle à l’Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts, Paris, 2009-10, 2009
p. 40
fig. 13
Scherf, Guilhem, 'Visions of Sculpture: Some French Eighteenth-Century Sculptures Seen by Draftsmen and Painters' in 'Collecting Sculpture in Early Modern Europe: Studies in the History of Art. 70. Symposium Papers XLVII', Washington, New Haven and London 2008
p. 360
photocopy in file for D.1978.PG.228
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Institut Néerlandais, Paris, 2002-03, De Watteau à Ingres: dessins français du XVIIIe siècle du Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, 2002
pp. 85-88, under no. 25
D'après l'antique, Musée du Louvre, 16 October 2000-15 January 2001, 2000-01
cat. no. 210
ill. on p. 406
Foster, Carter E., 'Jean-Bernard Restout's Sleep-Figure Study: painting and drawing from life at the French Royal Academy of painting and sculpture' in 'Cleveland Studies in the History of Art', 1998; 3
pp. 55-57
fig. 13 on p. 55
Harvard University Art Museum; Art Gallery of Ontario; Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris; etc., Mastery & elegance: two centuries of French drawings from the collection of Jeffrey E. Horvitz, Cambridge, Mass. 1998
fig. 6 on p. 30
Sheriff, Mary. The Exceptional Woman: Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun and the Cultural Politics of Art (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1996)
p. 61
fig. 10 on p. 61
Tradition & Revolution in French Art 1700-1880: paintings and drawings from Lille, National Gallery of Art, London, 1993
fig. 19 on p. 32
Drawing: masters and methods: Raphael to Redon, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1992, 1992
p. 11
fig. 4 on p. 10
Le Rouge et le noir, cent dessins francais de 1700 a 1850, Galerie Cailleux, Paris, 1 October - 9 November 1991
under no. 25
Borne, François, 'Excellence in obscurity: French drawings at the Courtauld Institute of Art' in 'Apollo', September 1991 - pp. 192-94; CXXXIV, 355
p. 194
pl. I on p. 193
French Drawings: XVI-XIX Centuries, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1991
no. 35, p. 80
ill. on p. 81
Roland Michel, Marianne, Le dessin français au XVIIIe siècle, Fribourg 1987
pp. 58-59
fig. 45
Bordeaux, Jean-Luc, François Le Moyne and his generation, 1688-1737, Neuilly-sur-Seine 1984
p. 108
Eighteenth-century French life-drawing: selections from the Collection of Mathias Polakovits, Princeton, 1977, 1977
pp. 22-23
fig. 3
Charles-Joseph Natoire: peintures, dessins, estampes et tapisseries des collections publiques francaises, Troyes, Musée des beaux-arts; Nîmes, Musée des beaux-arts; Rome, Villa Médicis, 1977, 1977
p. 80 under no. 42
Anthony Blunt and Philip Troutman, Master Drawings from the Witt and Courtauld Collections, 1962
cat. no. 63
Drawings from the Witt Collection, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1958 - 1959
cat. no. 68
Mirimonde, A.P. de, ‘L’impromptu du Plafond, ou l’Apothéose de Saint-Louis par Natoire’ in ‘La Revue des Arts’, 1958 - pp. 279-284; 6
p. 282
fig. 3
Drawings by Old Masters, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1953
cat. no. 391
Drawings from the Witt Collection at the Courtauld Institute of Art, St James's Square, London, York City Art Gallery and Peterborough Art Gallery, 1953
cat. no. 79
Bénard, M., Cabinet de M. Paignon Dijonval, Paris 1810
no. 3348 ...Less
Inscriptions
Watermark: Watermark: none.
Inscription: Recto: within the drawing, lower centre on box, grey-brown ink, signed and dated by the artist: “C. NATOIRE / f. 1746. //”.
Collector's mark: none.
Inscription: Recto: within the drawing, lower centre on box, grey-brown ink, signed and dated by the artist: “C. NATOIRE / f. 1746. //”.
Collector's mark: none.
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