Bonaparte Women

Provenance

Estate of Muriel Butkin.

Bonaparte Women

Thomas Casimir Regnault

Accession Number

2009.140

Medium

black chalk

Dimensions

Sheet: 25.5 x 18.1 cm (10 1/16 x 7 1/8 in.)

Classification

Drawing

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Bequest of Muriel Butkin

Tags

Drawing French

Background & Context

Background Story

Thomas Casimir Regnault (active early 19th century) was a French artist known for the precisely observed, characterfully composed drawings of fashionable subjects that make him one of the accomplished artists of the French tradition. Bonaparte Women depicts the women of the Bonaparte family in the precisely observed, characterfully composed manner that distinguishes Regnault's best work. The women of the Bonaparte family were among the most fashionable and socially prominent women of the Napoleonic era, and Regnault's precisely observed, characterfully composed treatment shows the French drawing tradition at its most accomplished.

Cultural Impact

Bonaparte Women is important in the history of French drawing because it depicts the women of the Bonaparte family in the precisely observed, characterfully composed manner of the French tradition. The women of the Bonaparte family were among the most fashionable and socially prominent women of the Napoleonic era, and Regnault's precisely observed, characterfully composed drawing shows the French tradition of depicting fashionable subjects at its most accomplished.

Why It Matters

Bonaparte Women is Regnault's precisely observed French drawing: the women of the Bonaparte family depicted in the characterfully composed manner of the French tradition. The drawing shows the fashionable and socially prominent women of the Napoleonic era at their most precisely observed.