Not Despair 5"x7" oil

This is a sculpture in the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.  I fell in love with it when I saw it.  The proportions are perfect and the marble is so smooth and creamy.  His seating position is relaxed and elequent with his fingers intertwining in front.  DPW offered a challenge to paint a sculpture so I immediately thought of this and dug out a photo I had taken of it.  What I really liked about this challenge is that it was a value study for me. The artist is Jean-Joseph Perraud and he completed it in 1869. The title is "Despair." But,  how could something so beautiful represent despair?? A normal person in despair would probably be more slumpy and depressed, not so elegant. There are numerous other sculptures out in the world that also depict human despair (Rodin is a good example) but they are all of tortured souls unlike Perraud's masterpiece. My modern interpretation of this is like the movie stars or sports folks who have everything going for them and then through bad decisions end up in despair, but have lawyers and money to make it less painful!  I would title it, "Most Beautiful Young Man!"

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