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The Little Park
Jean Honoré Fragonard French
Not on view
This drawing began as a counterproof—a slightly paler version, in reverse, of a red chalk drawing hanging nearby (ca. 1761–63). A counterproof is created by placing a damp sheet of blank paper atop the original drawing and passing both sheets through a press. Artists typically made counterproofs to remove excess chalk, but, for Fragonard, the mirror image also provided the basis for a new drawing executed in brown and gray wash directly on top of the counterproof.
As reworked in wash, the sheet takes on a painterly, vaporous effect. Two craggy trees, not present in earlier versions, have been added on the right side of the composition, furthering the autumnal, almost melancholic effect.
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