Studio RT Ltd

Description

We are offering for sale this charming 1750s/60s oval pastel portrait on vellum, of a lady with a letter in her hand, very much in the style of Francois Hubert Drouais 1727-1775. We cannot attribute it to his hand as it is unsigned and, over the course of many years, the old backing paper has disappeared, but it bears a considerable resemblance to other works of his. He has a penchant for ladies wearing chokers, and in several of his oil paintings, they wear a large pearl choker high on the neck, just below the chin, as the sitter is.

François-Hubert Drouais (Paris, 14 December 1727–Paris, 21 October 1775) was a leading French portrait painter during the latter years of Louis XV's reign. His clientele included the French royal family and nobility, foreign aristocracy, fermiers-généraux (tax farmers), and the wealthier members of Parisian society and their favourites. But it was his increasing popularity at the French court that expanded his clientele and made his portraits a fashionable necessity. Drouais’s work was admired during his lifetime, and his popularity and clientele did not diminish from the occasional adverse judgement published in Salon reviews.

Drouais was apprenticed successively to his father Hubert Drouais, Donat Nonnotte, Charles-Andre Van Loo, Charles-Joseph Natoire, and Francois Boucher. He was received into the Académie royale in 1758 with his morceaux des réception portraits of the celebrated sculptors Edme Bouchardon (1698–1762) and Guillaume II Coustou (1716–77). Both portraits were exhibited at the Salon of 1759 and received praise. Drouais attended the meetings of the Académie royale and, from 1755 until his death in 1775, exhibited regularly at the official Salons held in the Louvre in Paris.

Drouais was a favourite portrait painter of Jeanne Beçu, comtesse du Barry (1743–93) and, from 1772 until his death, held the position of premier peintre to Louis-Stanislas-Xavier, comte de Provence (1755–1824), known as Monsieur, later Louis XVIII. Mesdames de France, the daughters of Louis XV, were also important patrons. They recommended him to their father, Louis XV, when a portraitist was sought to travel to Vienna to paint the young Marie-Antoinette. Drouais was approached, but his commission fee was regarded as too high. Ducreux went instead.

The sitter's hair is powdered and her hairstyle is a soft Tete de Mouton, or sheep's head, popular in France in the 1750s/60s. Her clothing is somewhat dehabille and she is leaning on a cushion with a fringed edge, her head leaning on one hand, while in the other she is clutching a letter, possibly a billet doux. She has a pensive expression.

The pastel is glazed and framed in a 2 1/4" simple gilt frame, which may be the original. In any event, it has been in this frame for some considerable time.

Image size: 22 7/8" x 18 7/8" - 58cm x 48cm

Frame size: 27 1/2" x 23 3/4" - 67.3cm x 60.3cm

Medium: Pastels on stretched vellum (Vellum, according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was sometimes used for pastel portraits of royal sitters) Quote: Pastels are most often executed on paper, though vellum was occasionally used for portraits of royal sitters, such as those by Jean Étienne Liotard (Swiss, 1702–1789).

Condition: Very good. There is no foxing or loss of pastel. The backing is new. The frame is in very good condition.