Studies for “The Country Dance”
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin French
Not on view
On his walks through the city, Saint-Aubin would sometimes stop to draw figures, all of whom were seemingly unaware that they were being observed. He typically used a soft black chalk to quickly capture poses and gently model the forms.
We see a woman seated on the ground holding a baby and a group of young boys crowding around some source of entertainment. Visible to the left of the boy in the foreground kneeling on one knee is an initial sketch of the pose, drawn more faintly. Most of the figures and objects on this sheet would be used in Saint-Aubin’s painting The Country Dance, today in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
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