Lot 128: Pierre-Etienne Falconet (1741-1791)

Portrait of a young boy in profile to the right, traditionally said to be the artist's son black, white and red chalk on light brown paper 409 x 321 mm. NOTES Falconet was sent in 1766 by his father Etienne-Maurice to study portraiture with Sir Joshua Reynolds in London where he stayed until 1773. He then returned to France where he married Marie Anne Collot in 1778. It is possible that the present portrait is of his son. The boy's cropped classical fringe would have been the fashion in revolutionary Paris. A comparable drawing was sold in these Rooms, 10 January 1990, lot 124, illustrated.