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Lot Essay
The present work is one of two preparatory works in oil for a larger composition, which was known to Gerald Ackerman only from a black and white photograph when he published his catalogue raisonné in 1986. In a recent correspondence, he has extended his original observations on the work by stating: "The sketch is very clearly an early try out of the early stages of the composition, close to a compositional sketch in pencil. Another oil sketch, 355.2 in my catalogue simplifies the work even more and is close to the finished work, and the group of Bathsheba and the slave are more developed...Gerome kept the composition, and moved the central group [more] towards the center in each version."
Ackerman states that the bulk of the present work was copied from his early pencil sketches into oil by Gerôme, but that in parts of the buildings, where the brushwork is thickest the work of a studio hand or a "professional perspectiveur" might be evident.
As is often the case for Gérome's preparatory oil sketches, the present work is signed by his main studio assistant Aimé Morot. These were usually signed after the Gérome's death, and given to the artist's close friends and family.
The theme of the present work is nominally drawn from the Old Testament: 'And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon' (Samuel 1:12). The narrative, however, plays a secondary role compared to Gérôme's desire to explore the female form and to build a composition that derives power from the contrast of sinuous female curves set against against a geometrical architectural background.
We would like to thank Professor Gerald Ackerman for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.
Ackerman states that the bulk of the present work was copied from his early pencil sketches into oil by Gerôme, but that in parts of the buildings, where the brushwork is thickest the work of a studio hand or a "professional perspectiveur" might be evident.
As is often the case for Gérome's preparatory oil sketches, the present work is signed by his main studio assistant Aimé Morot. These were usually signed after the Gérome's death, and given to the artist's close friends and family.
The theme of the present work is nominally drawn from the Old Testament: 'And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon' (Samuel 1:12). The narrative, however, plays a secondary role compared to Gérôme's desire to explore the female form and to build a composition that derives power from the contrast of sinuous female curves set against against a geometrical architectural background.
We would like to thank Professor Gerald Ackerman for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.