Study of a Tree in the Luxembourg Gardens
This recently acquired sheet was made, according to the inscription, in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris when the artist was only twenty-three years old. He does not represent the setting but rather focuses on a single tree with gnarled and interlocking branches, each twist, knot, and broken branch chronicling the incidents and losses of an eventful life.
Artwork Details
- Title: Study of a Tree in the Luxembourg Gardens
- Artist: Pierre Henri de Valenciennes (French, Toulouse 1750–1819 Paris)
- Date: 1773
- Medium: Red chalk
- Dimensions: Sheet: 9 1/16 × 6 7/16 in. (23 × 16.3 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: Purchase, The Isaacson-Draper Foundation Gift, 2014
- Object Number: 2014.769
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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