School of Pierre Paul PRUDHON (1758-1823): Empress... Lot 24

School of Pierre Paul PRUDHON (1758-1823): Empress Josephine, head study. Pastel. 32 x 24 cm This is one of the preparatory pastels for the full-length portrait as it was painted in oil - imperial commission (1805-1809) - now in the Louvre (on what surrounds this official portrait, see Sylvain Laveissière, Prud'hon ou le rêve du bonheur, exhibition catalogue page 191). The closeness Prudhon had to Constance Mayer, his pupil and companion, might suggest that this work, so important to Prudhon, was influenced by her friend, an excellent and well-known painter of her time, from whom Empress Josephine, Talleyrand and later Louis XVIII acquired works. After the dramatic suicide of Constance Mayer, her drawings were often confused with Prud'hon's, who never signed, and whose life and studio she shared; she is also known to have been involved in the conception and sometimes even the execution of Prud'hon's works, particularly on the eve of certain exhibitions for which he had fallen behind.