Nicolas de LARGILLIERRE (Paris, 1656 - 1746) - Lot 51

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  3. Nicolas de LARGILLIERRE (Paris, 1656 - 1746) - Lot 51
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Lot n° 51
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35000 - 45000 EUR
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Result : 43 792EUR
Nicolas de LARGILLIERRE (Paris, 1656 - 1746) - Lot 51
Nicolas de LARGILLIERRE (Paris, 1656 - 1746) Portrait of Portrait de Madeleine Le Roux de Tilly marquise de Courvaudon (1677 - 1705) Oil on oval canvas. 82.5 x 64.8 cm. Beautiful Louis XIV period carved and gilded wood frame decorated with foliage scrolls and acanthus leaves. Inscribed on the back of the canvas: "Magdleine le Roux de tilly daughter of Claude le Roux de tilly and Magdleine du Moncel de Louraille 1st wife of Manzeray de Courvaudron Mort Doyen des Présidents du parlement de Rouen". Provenance: - Baron d'Esneval collection, Château d'Acquigny, Louviers, until 1912; - United States, private collection; - England, private collection. Exhibition: - Paris, Galerie Philippon, 1913, n°12 ; - Houston, Allied Arts Association, 1952, n°31 ; - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Museum of Art, 1979, no. 9; - Charles Decoster, Brussels Galerie Natalia Obadia Portraits, from the 17th to the 21st century, March - May 2020 We would like to thank Dominique Brême for confirming the authenticity of our painting. His skill at painting ladies was the talk of the town, whose graces, far from diminishing, gained much in his hands.1 Fascinated by drawing, which he practiced from an early age, Nicolas de Largillierre naturally turned to painting, despite his father's reluctance. Raised in Antwerp, where his family had moved, he began his training with the painter Antoon Goubau (Antwerp, 1616-1698), who was quick to recognize his talent: "You know enough to work for yourself; go and fly on your own "2 and led him to join the guild of Saint-Luc in Antwerp, where he was received as master in 1674. After two successful trips to England, Largillierre settled in Paris and fully launched his career as a portraitist, although he was still held in relative esteem by the Académie. Nourished by the influences of his various training courses, he found inspiration in particular through his meeting with the artist Peter Lely (Soest, 1618 - London, 1680), who became his friend and probably his master for a few months. From Lely's teachings, Largillierre retained his natural poses and the way he worked with light, flooding the soft, sensitive faces of his models. Combining preciousness and elegance, Largillierre was appreciated in France for the stylistic renewal he brought to the art of portraiture: his Anglo-Flemish training taught him to master the striking contrasts of color between fabrics and the whiteness of skin tones, in an imitation of nature. Unlike his main rival Hyacinthe Rigaud (Perpignan, 1659 - Paris, 1743), "Largillierre had little connection with the French court, with which he never made any approaches, preferring, as I've been told more than once, to work for the public (...)".3 By choosing to work with the rising intellectual bourgeoisie, who were carving out an increasingly important place for themselves in society, Largillierre set himself apart from his academician contemporaries, who fervently defended his teaching: a portrait is only estimable when it reflects the social status of the sitter. Amateurs and collectors were particularly fond of the artist's ability to convey French distinction through the youthful ardor and restrained charm common to all his figures. Far from painting formal portraits with frozen faces, Largillierre dedicated himself to easel portraits as a means of expressing the elegance and, above all, the intimacy of his models, most of whom came from his personal circle. Our painting features one of these highly sought-after female portraits, often of wives, dressed and coiffed in the latest fashion. This is Magdeleine le Roux de Tilly, daughter of Claude Le Roux de Tilly, judge at the Court of Appeal, and wife of Manzeray de Courvaudon, doyen of the presidents of the Rouen parliament. Depicted slightly in profile, elegantly turned to the right, she is carefully made-up to highlight her pearly flesh, wearing the so-called Fontange4 hairstyle (ill. 1), with two blue bows holding back her curly hair. She is richly attired in a midnight-blue gown adorned with jewels and a purplish cape floating around her, the sumptuousness of which contrasts with the lightness of her delicate face. An assiduous student of the Flemish, Largillierre readily detached himself from the severe classical art of the French Italianists, preferring color to the cold, exact line of drawing. Recognized for his talent as a colorist, the suppleness of his brushwork allows him to render the brilliant harmony of fabrics with elegance, playing with the reflections of velvet in the blue dress with gold braiding, as well as in the cape draped around it.
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