Nicolas Lancret (Paris 1690 – 1743), Two Young Women Seated Looking To The Left. Photo Sotheby's

red chalk with traces of black chalk; 7 1/2 by 9 3/4 in. 191 by 197 mm - Estimate 20,000-30,000 USD

PROVENANCE: Galerie Cailleux, bears their stamp, lower right (not in Lugt)

EXHIBITED: Zurich, Kunsthaus, Schönheit der Jahrhunderts, 1955, no. 173
Paris, Galerie Cailleux, Watteau et sa Génération, 1968, no. 102

NOTE: Stylistically the present sheet can be compared to two drawings sold, Paris, Tajan, 17 March 2004, lot 50 (Couple Galant Assis and Couple Galant). Those two sheets, executed in red chalk, were also in the Galerie Cailleux exhibition in 1968 (no. 100). All three drawings are characteristic of Lancret's style and figure types and although the present work cannot be directly connected to any of his known paintings it is very similar to his other freely drawn chalk studies for figures that feature in many of his painted compositions.

Sotheby's. Property from the Estate of Brooke Astor. New York | 24 sept. 2012 www.sothebys.com