Léon Comerre - Pair Of Drawings After Romeo And Juliet

Juliette and her maid – Juliette au balcon
Pair of graphite, ink, watercolor and gouache drawings
23.5×10.5 cm and 25×14 cm respectively / 33.6×41.6 cm framed
Signature lower right of Juliette and her maid
Both drawings are presented in the same frame with anti-reflective anti-UV glass
History: Estate of Madame Lion-Comerre (Granddaughter of the painter Léon Comerre), Studio of the painter Léon Comerre (1850-1916), Drouot, February 2003, lot n°196 bis
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These two drawings by Leon Comerre are to be linked to the famous tragedy by William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet, as revealed by the titles written on the back of the sheets: Juliette and her maid and Juliette au balcon. They represent two key moments in the young heroine's destiny: first, the preparations, with her nurse, for the ball given by her family on the occasion of her 14th birthday, then on her balcony, in the famous scene where, believing herself alone, she expresses her love for Romeo and hears him declare his in return.
Trained in Lille and then at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in the studio of Alexandre Cabanel, Leon Comerre won the Grand Prix de Rome for painting in 1875 and subsequently led a very successful official career, distinguishing himself particularly as a history painter and portraitist. He was also a valued decorator, authoring in 1890 for the foyer of the Odeon theater two decorative panels representing Racine's heroins Phedre and Celimene. He is also sometimes an illustrator, for example for a poem of the Chatiments in the national edition of Victor Hugo.
However, we have not been able to link our drawings to a setting, an edition of Shakespeare's tragedy or a theater or opera program; it would therefore seem that these are projects that did not result in a commission. However, they bear witness to the qualities of Leon Comerre as a draftsman and colorist, who depicts the emotions of the characters in a few lines subtly enhanced with delicate colors.