Jean-Michel Moreau

1741- Paris - 1814

The Joys of Motherhood, 1777

Pen and ink in brown, grey wash

24,8 x 19 cm

Inscribed on the mount “Moreau le Jeune”

Jean-Michel Moreau achieved considerable fame with his

prints and illustrations. The „Joys of Motherhood“ exhibits the influence of Jean- Jacques Rousseau and the reevaluation of childhood in the second half of the 18th century. An elegant couple with their baby relax on a park bench together with a woman holding a parasol. The child reaches for a bouquet offered by a statue of Venus. This humorous anecdote both lively and natual suggests a child‘s perception of reality. The banker, collector and art dealer Jean-Henri Eberts commissioned drawings from Sigmund Freudenberger and Moreau for a publication entitled „Monument du Costume Physique et Moral du XVIIIe siècle“. Three series of illustrations were carried out between 1776-1783. „Les délices de la Maternité“ appeared in the second published series in 1777. Moreau’s evocation of an idyllic family life, with the most upto- date costumes, is linked to traditional genre. This second series comprising 12 drawings constitutes Moreau‘s lasting masterpiece. The three series were united and reprinted in 1783 with a text by Retif de la Bretonne. „Les délices de la maternité“ was engraved by Isidore Stanislaus Hellmann (see Bocher, 1882, Jean-Michel Moreau le Jeune, catalogue raisonné, no. 1354 ill., and Lawrence & Dighton, 1910, French line engraving of the late XVIIIth century, no. 225.I.) Moreau produced a highly finished drawing for the engraver (sale M.G. Mühlbacher, Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, May 15-18, 1899, no. 202, ill.) Our sheet, preparatory to this lost work, exhibits the strong influence of Fragonard. Few preparatory drawings of this type and quality by Moreau survive (exemplary is no. 54, sale Raphael Esmerian, Paris Galliera, June 6, 1973).

David Mandrella, Paris, 2021