Jean-germain Drouais (1763-1788) - Three Servants

Jean-Germain Drouais (1763-1788)
Three servants
Gray Lavis maids on black pencil strokes on paper
Dimensions of the work: 17.5 x 14 cm
Dimensions of the frame: 30 x 30 cm

From a dynasty of painters, Jean- Germain Drouais is the son of portrait painter François-Hubert Drouais (1727-1775) who introduced him very early to drawing and painting. At the age of twelve, he joined the workshop of Nicolas Guy Brenet before being one of the first students of Jacques-Louis David alongside Anne-Louis Girodet and Jean-Antoine Gros. Jean-Germain Drouais won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1784 with Le Christ et la Cananéenne (Paris, Musée du Louvre). The following year, accompanied by David, his favorite pupil, the artist went to Italy to perfect his training in contact with masterpieces of Antiquity and the great decorations of Raphael. He collaborated in particular with the Oath of the Horatii before dying prematurely in 1788, carried away by smallpox. His disappearance arouses a strong emotion in his contemporaries who mourn a tragic loss for art.

Skilled painter and designer, Jean-Germain Drouais is one of the most gifted artists of his generation. Despite a shortened career, his work left its mark on French neoclassical painting. It revives classical antiquity and borrows from the masters of 17th century French classicism such as Nicolas Poussin and Charles Le Brun.

Our drawing can be compared to the group of three maidservants appearing at the top left of the painting The return of the prodigal son from the Saint-Roch Church in Paris completed in 1782. It is an emblematic painting of aesthetics neoclassical in which the painter skillfully deploys the lessons of David. The position of the three women on our sheet varies considerably from that of the servants working in the service of the prodigal son. We find however the same flexibility of the pleated drapes highlighting the movements of the maids as well as the subtle expression of their passions, in other words their emotions. Several study sheets kept in French public collections bear witness to Jean-Germain Drouais' research, thus reflecting the artist's reflections on the balance of the composition.

Public collections
Paris, Musée du Louvre
Rouen, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Rennes, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Le Mans, Musée de Tessé
Chartres, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Lille, Palais des Beaux-Arts
Dijon, Musée Magnin