Catalog notes
“exquisite sketch for the dream of happiness (1819), where diaphanous light bathes love, whose form is drawn by a gradient of chalk like ethereal stardust, sublimely atmospheric. His natonian love, haloed in a velvety sfumato, oscillates in the movement of the oars between leonard and girodet, haloed in light, singular for eternity. Prud'hon's companion and student signed the painted work, presented at the salon of 1819 and acquired by louis xviii. A family flees the storm, taking refuge in the hollow of an ideal boat, which fortune pulls towards the light, helped by love which accompanies the effort of the rower with confidence. Prud'hon invented the composition but the idea was probably submitted to him by constance mayer, a former student of greuze, of whom we know a drawing of a similar subject (see bazin, opus cited above). He drew a precise study for each figure with particular care (see laveissière, opus cited above). He undoubtedly participated in the painted execution but left the glory of the work to his lover. Germain bazin wonderfully analyzes the astonishing and complicated relationship of these lovers through this work: “we can understand that this painting was dear to prud'hon and that his delicacy wanted to leave all the merit to constance mayer. This 'dream of happiness' is indeed the image of our "lunologist" who dreamed his life more than he lived it, because he only lived desire. How right raymond regamey is, when in the very delicate book he published on this artist, he says that prud'hon did not meet miss mayer, but that he invented it! he needed this impossible love, so that he could only feed on illusion” (opus cited above). The romantic and artistic fusion of prud'hon and constance mayer found expression in this improbable fable, but whose romanticism delights us. As david says in a tribute to his unclassifiable genius: "it is not given to everyone to make mistakes like him" (in "pierre-paul prud'hon", actes du colloquium, musée du louvre, 2001, sylvain laveissière, p. 206). Seven years later when constance mayer realized that prud'hon did not want to remarry her, she had the terrible courage to cut her throat while looking into her psyche. ». Date: 1819. Dimensions: height: 26.4 cm (10.3 in); width: 20.3 cm (7.9 in). Medium: black chalk and chalk on paper. Collection: Unknown. Prud'hon 1819 Amour tenant les rames
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