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Descriptif du lot
Fragonard rarely approached Greuze as closely in his work as he did here. The subject is reminiscent of the crowded, moralizing family scenes by Greuze which enjoyed such a great success at the time. The scene is a pleasant rustic setting: in front of a wooden farmhouse, swathed in ivy, an old man sits in a rather large armchair as he welcomes his six grand-children, presented to him by their proud parents. A few animals - a pig, dog, cat, lamb and hen - enliven the tender scene, treated with great economy and humour.
The somewhat unusual technique of a diluted grey wash over precise outlines in pen and ink, again close to Greuze, can be observed in a few other drawings by Fragonard, for example La visite à la nourrice (Sotheby's, Paris, 19 June 2006, lot 53), which relates to a painting in the National Gallery, Washington (Cuzin, op. cit., p. 91, figs. 118-9) and Le retour (Ananoff, op. cit., no. 43). These drawings, as well as the few paintings that show a similar Greuzian influence - for example, La famille du fermier, Saint Petersburg, Hermitage (Cuzin, op. cit., no. 115) - can be dated around 1765.
We are grateful to Eunice Williams for her assistance in cataloguing this drawing.
The somewhat unusual technique of a diluted grey wash over precise outlines in pen and ink, again close to Greuze, can be observed in a few other drawings by Fragonard, for example La visite à la nourrice (Sotheby's, Paris, 19 June 2006, lot 53), which relates to a painting in the National Gallery, Washington (Cuzin, op. cit., p. 91, figs. 118-9) and Le retour (Ananoff, op. cit., no. 43). These drawings, as well as the few paintings that show a similar Greuzian influence - for example, La famille du fermier, Saint Petersburg, Hermitage (Cuzin, op. cit., no. 115) - can be dated around 1765.
We are grateful to Eunice Williams for her assistance in cataloguing this drawing.