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Hubert François Gravelot (Paris 1699 – 1773 Paris)
Urania holding a pair of compasses, surrounded by Putti
Black chalk, pen and brown ink, coloured wash and some bodycolour, brown ink framing lines, partial watermark letters, 175 x 126 mm
Signed ‘H. Gravelot del.’ (lower left)
Professionally mounted along the edges onto a cream sheet and presented in a blue mount with wash framing lines
Very good condition except for a very small damage at the lower left.
Provenance
Ullman Collection
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Hubert-François Gravelot, also known as Bourguignon (26 March 1699 – 20 April 1773), was a French engraver, a famous book illustrator, designer and drawing-master. Born in Paris, he emigrated to London in 1732, where he quickly became a central figure in the introduction of the Rococo style in British design, which was disseminated from London in this period, through the media of book illustrations and engraved designs as well as by the examples of luxury goods in the "French taste" brought down from London to provincial towns and country houses.
This very freely executed drawing is a fantastic example of Gravelot’s art. It is probably a design for a painted ceiling or room decoration.
For the artist, see Ruth S. Kraemer, ‘Drawings by Gravelot in the Morgan Library, Master Drawings, XX (Spring 1982), pp. 3-21.
