Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
The Little Park
Jean Honoré Fragonard French
Not on view
This drawing began as a counterproof—a slightly paler version, in reverse, of a red chalk drawing hanging nearby (ca. 1761–63). A counterproof is created by placing a damp sheet of blank paper atop the original drawing and passing both sheets through a press. Artists typically made counterproofs to remove excess chalk, but, for Fragonard, the mirror image also provided the basis for a new drawing executed in brown and gray wash directly on top of the counterproof.
As reworked in wash, the sheet takes on a painterly, vaporous effect. Two craggy trees, not present in earlier versions, have been added on the right side of the composition, furthering the autumnal, almost melancholic effect.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
