GEORGES DE LA TOUR (1593-1652) The Penitent Magdalen with the Smoking Flame (c.1638-40) Oil on canvas (117 x 92 cm) Los Angeles County Museum of Art To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Georges de La Tour was the greatest tenebrist painter working in 17th-century France. Indeed since his …
Category: French Artists
The Musicians’ Brawl
GEORGES DE LA TOUR (1593-1652) The Musicians' Brawl (c. 1625-30) Oil on canvas (86 x 141 cm) Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Born in Lorraine, a place where the Nordic, French and Italian cultures meet; a contemporary of Jacques Callot (1592-1635) and …
Self-portrait
MAURICE QUENTIN DE LA TOUR (1704-1788) Self-portrait (1751) Pastel on paper Amiens, Musee de Picardie To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Maurice Quentin de La Tour showed at a very early age outstanding aptitudes for drawing. At the age of 18, having decided to become an artist, he …
Before the Ball
JEAN-FRANCOIS DE TROY (1679-1752) Before the Ball (1735) Oil on canvas (82 x 63 cm) Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" De Troy was a very talented and versatile artist; he was an equally competent draughtsman, easel and fresco painter and tapestry designer. …
The Laundress
JEAN BAPTISTE GREUZE (1725-1805) The Laundress (1761) Oil on canvas (40.5 x 32 cm) Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" During the last half of the 18th century, Greuze was the most famous and successful exponent of genre painting in France. He normally …
A Royal Concert
PHILIPPE MERCIER (1689-1760) Frederick, Prince of Wales and his Sisters making Music at Kew (c.1734) Oil on canvas (77,5 x 57 cm) Cliveden, Buckinghamshire, UK To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Philippe Mercier was born in Berlin, the son of a French Huguenot tapestry worker. He studied painting …
An Allegory
PHILIPPE-LAURENT ROLAND (1746-1816) Allegorical Group with the Bust of an Architect (1780-90) Terracotta: Height 67,3 cm Paul J. Getty Museum, Los Angeles To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" The son of a wood carver, Philippe-Laurent joined the atelier of the famous Agustin Pajou (1730-1809) at the age of …
An Officer and a Gentleman
NICOLAS DE LARGILLIERE (1656-1746) Portrait of an Officier, c. 1715 Oil on canvas (66 x 55 cm) Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Unjustly neglected by art historians, particularly the Anglo-Americans, in favour of his contemporary and rival Hyacinthe Rigaud …
The Villa of Maecenas
CLAUDE-JOSEPH VERNET (1714-1789) The Waterfalls near Tivoli and the Villa of Maecenas Oil on canvas 101 x 138 cm Mauritshuis, The Hague To enlarge the picture, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" The painting was described in the sale catalogue of 1763 as a view near the town of Narni and was …
Madame Adelaide
ADELAIDE LABILLE-GUIARD (1749-1803) Portrait of Madame Adelaide de France (1787) Oil on canvas 271 x 194 cm Chateau de Versailles To enlarge the image, right-click on it and "Open in a new tab" Adélaide Labille was born in Paris, the youngest of eight children. Her father was a haberdasher who owned a shop named A la …
Old Masters 