Antoine Jean Gros (1771-1835)

The Musée du Louvre houses the world's largest collection of drawings by Antoine-Jean Gros, containing 438 drawings in four sketchbooks (the last one acquired in November 2018) and 17 on loose sheets, including the spirited Alexander and Bucephalus, presented to the museum by the Société des Amis du Louvre (Friends of the Louvre) in 2017. In his most dramatic drawings, executed in pen and ink, Gros's free, impetuous style and liberal use of wash accentuate the strength and originality of his art, which led Delacroix to single the artist out from David's other pupils and consider him the first painter of the new school.