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A Young Woman Seated on the Ground

Jean Honoré Fragonard French

ca. 1765-70

Not on view

Drawn in quick and confident strokes, this fashionably dressed young woman seated in a garden beside a basket of flowers appears lost in reverie. Fragonard presents her as an object for the viewer’s delectation. The drawing is unburdened by narrative, and details of setting and foliage are abstracted; the work’s real subject is the casual virtuosity of the artist. Sheets like this one were avidly sought after by collectors, and Fragonard seemingly spun them off with ease.

A Young Woman Seated on the Ground, Jean Honoré Fragonard (French, Grasse 1732–1806 Paris), Red chalk — Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: A Young Woman Seated on the Ground

Artist: Jean Honoré Fragonard (French, Grasse 1732–1806 Paris)

Date: ca. 1765-70

Medium: Red chalk

Dimensions: 8 3/4 × 11 1/16 in. (22.2 × 28.1 cm)

Classification: Drawings

Credit Line: The Morgan Library & Museum, New York (I, 289a)

How Chalk Drawings are Made

How Chalk Drawings are Made

An illustrated explainer.

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Drawings and Prints at The Met

The Met's collection of drawings and prints—one of the most comprehensive and distinguished of its kind in the world—began with a gift of 670 works from Cornelius Vanderbilt, a Museum trustee, in 1880.