Louis Emile ADAN (1839-1937) Set of six preparatory studies - Lot 103

Louis Emile ADAN (1839-1937) Set of six preparatory studies in pencil for the painting "La Maternité, 1898". From 11 x 17.3 cm to 19.1 x 21.6 cm This is a set of preparatory studies for the painter's most famous painting: "La Maternité, 1998". This work, still the subject of thousands of reproductions in the United States, may have been imagined as a breast-feeding scene. In the end, Louis Emile Adan chose to depict the moment of falling asleep, illustrating a gentle scene in the midst of nascent parenthood. One of the studies bears the words of a poem: "do-do câli-ne / Sainte Catherine/ Endormz vos p'tits enfants / jusqu'à l'âge de deux ans". The mother, delicately leaning over the cradle, observes her cherub with reverence. The painter painstakingly renders the child's face, eyes closed and lips slightly parted. These sketches bear witness to the painter's sensitivity, attentive to the minute gestures and silent emotions that nourish maternal tenderness. Louis-Emile ADAN, La Maternité, 1898 [Private collection]