ANTOINE VESTIER (1740-1824) M. Etienne de Joly (1795-96) Galerie Eric Coatalem, Paris Oil on canvas (81 x 65 cm) (To enlarge the picture, right click on it and chose "Open in another window") Here is another beautiful portrait by Antoine Vestier that shows the talent of this little-known French painter. Like the sitter in my …
Category: French Artists
The Governor
ANTOINE VESTIER (1740-1824) Eugene Joseph Stanislas Foullon d'Ecotier (1785) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Oil on canvas (80 x 64 cm) (To enlarge the picture, right click on it and chose "Open in a new tab") Antoine Vestier was born in Avallon, Burgundy. Very little is known about his early years. By 1760 he …
From Rags to Riches
JEAN-MARC NATTIER (1685-1766) Empress Catherine I of Russia (1717) Oil on canvas (142 x 110 cm) The Hermitage, St. Petersburg (To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and choose "Open in a new tab") This is a painting of no exceptional artistic merit. The fact that is here is due to its value as a …
The Aristocratic Musician
JEAN-MARC NATTIER (1685-1766) Francis Greville, 8th Baron Brooke, later 1st Earl of Warwick (1741) Oil on canvas (137 x 107 cm) Private collection (To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and choose "Open in a new tab") Jean-Marc Nattier is almost unknown to the majority of English-speaking art lovers, This is a consequence of the …
Nicolas de Largillière
NICOLAS DE LARGILLIERE (1656-1746) Self-portrait (1711) Oil on canvas (80 x 65 cm) Chateau de Versailles To enlarge the image, right-click on it and choose "Open in a new tab" Largillière painted several portraits of himself: in 1699 (Tours, Musee des Beaux-Arts), 1711 (Versailles, Chateau), 1724 (Montpellier, Musee Fabre) and 1729 (Florence, Uffizi). These works …
Monsieur Lerambert
ALEXIS-SIMON BELLE (1674-1734) Portrait of Louis Lerambert Oil on canvas (130 x 99 cm) To enlarge the image, right-click on it and choose "Open in a new tab" Born into a family of artists Alexis-Simon Belle trained under Francois de Troy. He followed the teaching dispensed by the Royal Academy and won the Prix de …
A View of Versailles
JEAN-BAPTISTE MARTIN (1658-1735) View of the Forecourts of the Chateau de Versailles and the Stables (1688) Oil on canvas (260 x 184 cm) Chateau de Versailles Leading onto the Gallery, the Cool Room at Trianon linked the King's apartments, of which it was part, to those of Mme de Maintenon. The painting over the mantelpiece, …
Portrait of a Portraitist
MARC NATTIER (1642-1705) Portrait of Gilbert de Seve Oil on canvas (117 x 88 cm) Chateau de Versailles To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and choose "Open in a new tab" We normally associate the surname Nattier with Jean-Marc (1685-1766) the famous portraitist of Louis XV and his court, or even Jean-Baptiste (1678-1726). The …
A Goldsmith
FRENCH SCHOOL Portrait of a Goldsmith Oil on canvas (92 x 76 cm) Chateau de Versailles To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and choose "Open in a new tab" Despite the extremely high quality of this work, characterized by an uncompromising realism and an execution that reveals the hand of a virtuoso, the identities …
Le Grand Colbert
CLAUDE LEFEBVRE (1632-1674) Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1666) Oil on canvas (138 x 113 cm) Chateau de Versailles To enlarge the image, right-click on it, then "Open in a new tab" Claude Lefebvre was the son of the painter Jean Lefebvre (1600-1664); he was baptized on 12th September 1632 at the church of Saint Louis …
Old Masters 