ALEXANDER ROSLIN (1718-1793)

Portrait of Marie-Suzanne Giroust, the painter´s wife (1763)

Oil on canvas (56 x 46 cm)

National Museum, Stockholm, Sweden

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This beautiful and charming portrait of his wife is apparently the first one Roslin painted. It is dated 1763, which means that it was painted four years after their marriage. Marie-Suzanne Giroust (1734-1772) was the daughter of Barthélémy Giroust, jeweller to the king, and Marie Suzanne Leroy. Orphaned as a child, she was raised by several members of her family. Her inheritance enabled her to study painting. She was a pupil of Maurice Quentin de La Tour and Joseph-Marie Vien.

Roslin met her in 1754 through his friend Joseph-Marie Vien. The Swedish artist fell madly in love with Marie. He asked her to marry him, but the Giroust family opposed their union because of Roslin’s Protestant faith. Nevertheless, they were deeply in love and, thanks to the intervention of the Count of Caylus, they finally got married on 8th January 1759. In that same year, a critic writing in “La feuille necessaire” singled out Marie-Suzanne as a promising and brilliant pastel painter: “Madame Rosselin, èleve du célèbre M. de la Tour, a fini depuis peu divers morceaux en pastel, dans lesquels on remarque la fraicheur et la vérité du coloris de cet excellent maitre. Elle réussit particulièrement dans le portrait, elle saisit très bien la ressemblance et le ton de la carnation.” (1)

Marie-Suzanne was admired for the accomplished skin tones and colours of her portraits, and even her own husband thought she was a better pastel painter than he. These pastel portraits earned her the goodwill of the Academy, which admitted her on the same day as Anne Vallayer-Coster as a pastel painter, on 1 September 1770. Unfortunately, she was unable to enjoy her success as a portraitist and academician, since she died of cancer two years later.

This is one of those portraits that needs no further comment. It is a masterpiece and a moving testament to Roslin’s skill as a portraitist and his love for Marie-Suzanne. I have rarely seen a portrait that expresses the female beauty with such charming freshness.

NOTES

1) “Madame Rosselin, a pupil of the renowned M. de la Tour, has recently completed a number of pastel works in which one can appreciate the freshness and authenticity of colour characteristic of this excellent master. She is particularly successful in capturing the likeness and tone of the skin.” Neill Jeffares: “Dictionary of pastellists before 1800” Suzanne ROSLIN