Black chalk, heightened with white on brown paper Signed and inscribed 'L. Olivier Merson'/ 'Etude pour ''La Musique'/ L'Opera Comique''

381 x 229 mm. (15 x 9 in.)

A preparatory drawing for one of the youths singing in the painting La Musique au Moyen Age in the Thtre national de LOpra-Comique, Paris), of 1898, on the right hand side. The present drawing is a characteristic one by the artist, and closely comparable to a number of drawings by the artist which are similar in handling and inscriptions1. LOpra-Comique was amongst a number of Parisian buildings he worked on, including Palais de Justice and Htel de Ville.

Luc-Olivier Merson was committed to painting religious scenes and took his inspiration from Quattrocento artists, such as Fra Angelico. However his initial training came from Lecoq de Boisbaudran and Chassevent at the Ecole des Arts Dcoratifs, and later Isidore Pils at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Merson was to become a Professor at the Ecole in 1894. Merson also designed stain glass windows, as well bank notes.

1.Colnaghi, An Exhibition of Master Drawings, 2000, no. 54; Paris, Muse du Louvre and elsewhere, 26th April-15th December 1995, P. Rosenberg, Dessins franais de la collection Prat XVIIe-XVIIIe-XIXe sicles, no. 94; Hazlitt, Gooden and Fox, Nineteenth Century French Drawings, 1978, no. 77.