Edgard Maxence – Cherub Head
6 500€
In stock
Edgard Maxence (1871-1954), Cherub Head, red chalk and white gouache on paper, circa 1895, diameter 15 cm, signed.
The light touch of red chalk delicately draws the face of a cherub with great softness. Fine shadows skillfully model the volumes, while the white gouache highlights the halo with a subtle glow. The whole composes a small, very delicate work that fully reveals the graphic qualities of Edgard Maxence, a prominent figure of French Symbolism.
Maxence embodies an elegant, precious style of painting, sometimes described as decadent in the refined and ornamental sense the term carried at the end of the 19th century.
He was one of the most notable students of Gustave Moreau and participated in several public exhibitions, including the Salons de la Rose+Croix between 1895 and 1897. His work was quickly recognized: he received official distinctions, public commissions, and purchases by the State within the first decades of his career.
Even in a small-format drawing such as this, Maxence achieves a form of completion reminiscent of the Renaissance masters of drawing. Through the precision of the line, this study presents the same formal coherence and intensity as his finished paintings.
