Hymn to Venus
1762
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
Artist
Louis-Felix de La Rue
Louis-Felix de La Rue (1730–1777) was a French artist, born in Paris.
See the richer artist page1762
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Hymn to Venus is a 1762 by Louis-Felix de La Rue, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a swirl of chubby babies and dancing women around a statue of Venus. This drawing was probably a practice sheet for fancy plates or vases. The artist filled every inch with figures, like wallpaper. The lines are light and quick, more about pattern than deep space. To see how other artists turned drawings into decorative art, look up *France, 18th century*.
Louis Félix de La Rue came from a family of artists and was best known for creating designs for decorative arts, such as ceramics. This sheet—which features putti and bacchantes, the artist’s preferred subjects—likely served such a purpose, given its allover composition and focus on patterning and symmetry.
The verso of this drawing is covered in the artist’s calculations and notations, suggesting that he reused a sheet found in his studio to create it.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Louis-Felix de La Rue (1730–1777) was a French artist, born in Paris.
See the richer artist page
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