Louis Tocqué

Marcel Thévenin, Paris;
His sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 28 April 1906, lot 84 (as attributed to Tocqué);
There acquired by Weill;
Paul Vignot, Paris;
Comte R. de Lubersac, Paris, by 1930;
Anonymous sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 10 June 1988, lot 56;
There acquired by the present owner.

Paris, Fédération Française des Artistes, Exposition de quartre portraitistes du XVIIIme siècle: Aved, Danloux, Drouais, Tocqué, 16 January - 13 February 1930, cat. no. 53;
Paris, Galerie Cailleux, Esquisses, maquettes, projets et ébauches de l'école française du XVIIIe siècle: peintures et sculptures, March 12 - 24 1934, cat. no. 88.

A. Doria, Louis Tocqué, Paris 1929, p. 124, cited under cat. no. 219 (never having seen the painting, the author mistakenly catalogues it as a copy);
A. Doria, "Tocqué conférencier," in Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 6e pér., VI, October 1931, reproduced p. 227, fig. 4 (as Tocqué).

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This small oil "sketch" is on paper lined on to canvas. The lining is old and very good. The work is well cleaned but certainly not over-cleaned. There are no apparent damages or paint losses, except one small restoration in the lower right corner in the background. The rapid sketchy technique is naturally slightly thin in the darker colors of the collar and cuffs of his coat, but there is no abrasion. The work can be hung as is.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This is Tocqué’s preparatory oil sketch for the life-size, three-quarter length portrait of the Marquis de Marigny (1727-1781), the definitive version of which was exhibited to great acclaim in the Salon of 1755 and is now in the collection of the Musée National du Château de Versailles [Inv. no. 8173], (fig. 1).  The sitter was the younger brother of Louis XV’s official mistress, Madame de Pompadour.  In 1745, while he was still called the Marquis de Vandières, he was officially presented to the King and was chosen to eventually succeed Le Normant de Tournehem (1684-1751) as Minister of Fine Arts, or Directeur des Bâtiments, Jardins, Arts et Manufactures du Roi, a post he held until 1774.  During his tenure, he was involved in a number of important commissions, including Joeph Vernet’s gigantic canvases of the Ports of Europe and Jacques Ange Gabriel’s designs for the École Militaire, the plan of which is conspicuously displayed on the table in Tocqué’s portrait of him.  Towards the end of his life, he was titled the Marquis de Ménars.

The Sleep of Venus by Francois Boucher, lot 125 in the present sale, was commissioned by Marigny’s sister, Madame de Pompadour and, following her death, came into his possession, remaining in his collection until sold in 1782 as part of his estate.