Martin Drölling
French, 1752–1817
Young Woman in an English Garden
c. 1795
A woman gazes expectantly into the distance, her expression suggesting that the letter in her hand is from a lover. This work was exhibited in 1795 as one of a pair; the second painting (now in a private collection) implies an unhappy end to the affair. The English garden mentioned in the title, while not seen in the image, would have added a picturesque note for French audiences.
| Medium | oil on canvas or paper |
| Dimensions | 17 7/8 x 14 3/4 in. (45.4 x 37.5 cm) |
| Object Number | 1955.725 |
| Acquisition | Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955 |
| Status | On View |
Image Caption
Martin Drölling, Young Woman in an English Garden, c. 1795, oil on canvas or paper. Clark Art Institute, 1955.725
Select Bibliography
Paris: Salon de 1795..
Paris: Ecole des Beaux-Arts.. Tableaux des maîtres anciens, au profit des inondés du Midi.. 1887..
Ludig, Sandra G. Between the Lines: Ladies and Letters at the Clark. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1982.
. Collection des Livrets des Anciennes Expositions.. Paris: Liepmannsohn, Editeur.. 1871..
. Art Prices Current, New Series.. vol. 15, part A.. London: Art Trade Press, Ltd.. 1936..
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1970.
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1972.
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984.
Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992.
Rand, Richard. Intimate Encounters: Love and Domesticity in 18th-Century France. Exhibition catalogue. Hanover, NH: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College; Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1997.
Lees, Sarah, ed. Nineteenth-Century European Paintings at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; New Haven and London: distributed by Yale University Press, 2012.
EUROPEAN PAINTINGS CATALOGUE ENTRY
Provenance
Célestin Gandais, Paris; Delestre (by 1887–1936, his sale, Drouot, Paris, 14 May 1936, no. 129, pl. 29, as Madame Dugazon dans le rôle de la meunière [?], sold to Clark); Robert Sterling Clark (1936–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955.
