French Oil Sketches and the Academic Tradition

The Academie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, founded in Paris in 1648 as an alternative to the old guild system, was the center for art instruction through the end of the nineteenth century, and the most skilled practitioners of oil painting - and the majority of artists included in the catalogue - belonged to the Academie.

Membership in the Academie provided artists with the only opportunity to exhibit their work and was, therefore, crucial for professional success. Because the oil sketch played an important role in the planning and execution of finished works, these artists were well-versed in the practice of oil sketching.

This catalogue explores the diversity and evolution of the oil sketch within the French academic tradition, with detailed discussions of 127 works, all of which are drawn from a private collection currently on loan to the University Art Museum of the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

Among the artists whose works are included are Francois Boucher, Henri Fantin-Latour, Jean-Baptiste Hilaire, Adelaide Labille-Guiard, Jean-Baptiste Leprince, Jacques Sablet, and Simon Vouet.