Exhibitions in Parisian galleries (1)

23/3/25 - Art market - Paris - Drawing Week, the highlight of which is the eponymous Salon that opens next Wednesday, traditionally begins a little earlier in the galleries (sometimes even with paintings). We will visit these in several articles, trying - it is not always possible depending on the dates of the exhibition - to favour routes that can be completed quickly on foot.

1. Théodore Géricault (1791-1824)
Gericault’s Dog Galaor, Lying in the Doghouse
Black chalk and watercolour - 15.7 x 15.6 cm
At Nicolas Schwed’s
Photo: OMD Sarl

See the image in its page

This time we will start at Nicolas Schwed’s, who is presenting one of his two annual exhibitions in the Rue du Saint-Honoré, always accompanied by a catalogue.
Among the sheets that we consider to be the most beautiful - all of them are of high quality, but you have to choose - let us mention a remarkable watercolour by Théodore Géricault representing a dog - which is none other than the artist’s dog, named Galaor - lying at the entrance of its kennel (ill. 1). This superb drawing, with its prestigious provenance - it belonged in particular to Louis Bro de Comères, Géricault’s friend who assisted him in his last moments - has been well known since it was reported by Clément, and exhibited several times until 1964, but it had never been reproduced.

2. Sebastiano Conca (1680-1764)
Tuccia Carrying Water in a Sieve from the Tiber to the Temple of Vesta
Black chalk, pen and brown ink, wash of grey and highlights of white - 47.4 x 32.6 cm
At Nicolas Schwed’s
Photo: OMD Sarl

See the image in its page

Another animal this time, a tiger drawn by Oudry, would deserve to be reproduced here, but we will prefer an Italian work that is particularly impressive. It is a drawing by Sebastiano Conca (ill. 2) preparatory to a painting kept at the Palazzo Economo in Trieste (which is not its original location). The subject, Tuccia carrying water in a sieve from the Tiber to the…