1758 -1823 · Cluny, Dijon, Rome and Paris

Velvety shadows, chalk-shaped bodies and nocturnal allegories give Pierre-Paul Prud'hon a unique place between neoclassical grace and romantic dream.

Pierre-Paul Prud'hon was born in Cluny in 1758 and died in Paris in 1823. Trained in Dijon then nourished by a stay in Italy, he admired Antiquity, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci and Correggio without adopting the linear hardness of David. His painting, on the contrary, favors passages of light, flexible forms and an atmosphere of dreams. His nude studies, often executed with black stone and white chalk on blue paper, construct the body through friction, hatching and reflections. His nude studies, often executed with black stone and white chalk on blue paper, construct the body through friction, hatching and reflections. His nude studies, often executed with black stone and white chalk on blue paper, construct the body through friction, hatching and reflections. His nude studies, often executed with black stone and white chalk on blue paper, construct the body through friction, hatching and reflections. His nude studies, often executed with black stone and white chalk on blue paper, construct the body through friction, hatching and reflections. This graphic work nourishes portraits, mythological compositions, decorations and large allegories. Justice and Divine Vengeance pursuing Crime, commissioned for the Palais de Justice in Paris and exhibited at Salon of 1808, transforms a moral idea into a nocturnal pursuit. The corpse lies in the foreground while Crime flees under the implacable light of celestial powers. Apollo and the Nine Muses deploys a more decorative grace; Diane imploring Jupiter combines ideal nudity and restrained movement. The portraits, notably that of Georges Anthony, reveal a more intimate presence, modeled in vibrant darkness. Close to the imperial court and collaborator of Constance Mayer, Prud'hon nevertheless remains independent of schools. His portraits, notably that of Georges Anthony, reveal a more intimate presence, modeled in vibrant darkness. Close to the imperial court and collaborator of Constance Mayer, Prud'hon nevertheless remains independent of schools. His tender and disturbing chiaroscuro opens a personal path between the 18th century, neoclassicism and romantic sensitivity. The selection "Pierre-Paul Prud’hon " notably compares Justice and Divine Vengeance pursuing Crime and Apollo and the Nine Muses on Mount Parnassus. His reading favors figures.

Prud'hon draws with light: the chalk lifts the skin out of the blue, the shadow softens the outline, and the allegory becomes almost nocturnal vision.