Lot 75: *CHARLES MEYNIER (1768-1832)

oil on canvas In 1789, Charles Meynier submitted the present sketch to the Académie to qualify for the final round of the distinguished Prix de Rome competition. Meynier's final painting of Joseph Recognized by his Brothers won him the coveted Grand Prix, which he shared together with Anne-Louis Girodet. François Gérard was awarded the second prize in the competition. The heightened tension and drama of this biblical scene made it a popular subject in French 18th century art. It had been chosen previously by the Académie as a subject for the Prix de Rome in 1700. Both Charles-Antoine Coypel and François Boucher depicted the Recognition and Meynier would have most likely been familiar with both treatments. Meynier's free handling of the paint and the summary execution of the faces imbue a youthful energy in this sketch, distinguishing it from the more stylized final version now hanging in the, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris. We are grateful to Isabelle Michallon, who based on firsthand inspection of the work has confirmed the attribution and will be publishing it in her forthcoming catalogue raisonné on the works by Charles Meynier.

Ulysse Moussali, Paris Sale: Paris, Galliera, 7 March, 1972, lot 153 (as attributed to Benjamin West) there purchased by Galerie Cailleux, Paris, from whom purchased by Germain Seligman, New York, 1973 Sale: Christie's, New York, June 5, 1980, there purchased by the brother of the present owner Exhibited: Paris, Galerie Cailleux, Autour du Néoclassicisme, 1973, no. 27 New York, Didier Aaron, Inc., French Paintings of the Eighteenth Century, 1983, no. 27 Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, New York; The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick; The High Museum of Art at Georgia-Pacific Center, Atlanta; La Grand Manière, 1987 - 1988, p. 133, no. 40