Le Vent d'Orient
Medium
Red chalk
Dimensions
15 1/2 x 10 7/8 in. (39.3 x 27.6 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harry G. Sperling Fund, 1981
Accession Number
1981.15.2
Art Historical Context
Edme Bouchardon's *Le Vent d'Orient* exemplifies the refined draftsmanship of eighteenth-century France. Working primarily as a sculptor, Bouchardon frequently turned to red chalk to explore form, movement, and texture. The warm, earthy medium allowed him to achieve subtle gradations of light and shadow, giving his drawings a sculptural presence even on paper. Measuring roughly fifteen by eleven inches, this sheet reveals the artist’s sensitivity to line and volume. Red chalk drawings held particular prestige in the period for their ability to capture both the softness of flesh and the crisp ...
About the Artist
Edme Bouchardon · 1698–1762
Born 29 May 1698; died 27 July 1762. Bouchardon was a student of Guillaume Coustou, and won the prix de Rome in 1722. He spent ten years (1722-1732) in Rome, Italy working on various projects for Pope Clement XII. In 1732 Bouchardon was recalled to Paris and named sculptor to the king. Bouchardon became a professor at the Académie Royale in 1746. He worked on an equestrian monument of Louis XV, Ki...