Sold at Auction: Pierre-Paul Prud'hon

(b Cluny, France, 1758; d Paris, 1823) French Painter and Draftsman. Pierre-Paul Purd’hon was born Pierre Prudon, the son of a mason in Burgundy. He was sent to study painting in Dijon at the age of sixteen and in 1778 went to Paris to work as an engraver. After three years, Prud’hohn received a scholarship to study in Italy where he encountered masters like Correggio and Leonardo da Vinci whose work would greatly influence the young artist. Prud’hon returned to Paris just as the French Revolution was gathering momentum, but he weathered the uncertain political climate and went on to become a favorite of Napoleon. He gained fame for his portraits and for his allegorical paintings, and, in 1816, he was inducted into the Institute de France. Prud’hon’s canvases are distinguished by a dreamy, melancholy romanticism, which stands in contrast to other neoclassical works of the period; typified by the paintings of Jaques-Louis David. Prud’hon is also well known for his drawings, often executed in black and white chalk on blue paper.