Study for a Lunette
1890/1897
Medium
gouache with pen and black ink and graphite on tan wove paper
Dimensions
image (lunette): 23.2 × 45.8 cm (9 1/8 × 18 1/16 in.) mount: 30.4 × 45.6 cm (11 15/16 × 17 15/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Mark Borghi
Accession Number
1995.24.22
Art Historical Context
Charles Sprague Pearce's *Study for a Lunette* (1890/1897) offers a fascinating glimpse into the preparatory world late 19th-century academic art. Pearce, an American painter trained at the École des Be-Arts in Paris, was renowned for his meticulous history paintings and decorative schemes. This drawing, executed as a study for a semi-circular lunette—a wall panel often found in grand architectural settings—captures his skill in planning large-scale compositions. Measuring just 23.2 × 45.8 cm, it invites viewers to appreciate the intimate scale of an artist's early ideas. Crafted in gouache w...
About the Artist
Charles Sprague Pearce · 1851–1914
Charles Sprague Pearce, born on October 13, 1851, in Boston, Massachusetts, grew up in a cultured family immersed in art and exotic imports; his father, Shadrach H. Pearce, ran a business dealing in Chinese porcelain, sparking the young artist's fascination with Eastern motifs. After attending the Brimmer School and Boston Latin School, Pearce worked briefly in the family firm before departing for...