Lot 72
  • 72

Nicolas de Largillierre

Estimate
500,000 - 700,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Nicolas de Largillierre
  • Portrait of Marguerite Elisabeth de Largillierre (1701-1756), the artist's daughter
  • signed on the reverse Peint par N. de Largillierre
  • oil on original canvas, with original stretcher

Provenance

Most probably by descent in the artist's family since the 18th century.

Condition

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 painting is in remarkable condition. The canvas is unlined and has never been removed from its original stretcher. The inscription on the reverse is clearly visible. Not only is the canvas unlined, it does not need to be lined – which is even more unusual. The paint layer is in beautiful state and although very mildly cracked, it is not unstable or unsightly as is. The painting has most likely never been cleaned. If it were to be lightly cleaned, one would have the luxury of viewing a patina which is so rarely found in pictures from this period. There appears to have been no damage except for a little frame abrasion around the extreme edges. The only area of slight thinness is in the carnation, where some of the glazes employed have lost a little of their richness. Overall the condition of this painting is spectacular.
"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."

Catalogue Note

This distinguished portrait of Nicolas de Largillierre's daughter holds a particular interest and importance within the artist's oeuvre as the choice of model automatically confers the composition with a unique sensibility and tenderness.  Marguerite Elisabeth de Largillierre was born the 30th January 1701 following the artist's marriage to Marguerite Elisabeth Forest, daughter of the landscape painter Jean-Baptiste Forest. Marguerite the younger was the oldest of three children and is depicted here in the year of her own marriage, on January 13, 1726, at the age of 25, to war minister Jean-Baptiste Houzé de La Boullaye. Widowed in 1733, she subsequently remarried Jacques de Farevolles.

When Largillierre executed this portrait in 1726, he had been a member of the Académie Royale for several years and enjoyed the enthusiastic patronage of the French nobility and upper classes with commissions both multiple and prestigious. In the same year he also painted his own self portrait which he gave to Marguerite Elisabeth as a wedding present (Château de Parentignat, Marquis de Lastic collection; see fig. 1). That work is signed and dated on the reverse of the original canvas and serves as a testimony to the close bond that existed between the painter and his daughter: portrait/ de Nicolas de Largillierre/ né à Paris le 10 octobre 1656/ peint par luy meme/ 1726/ Et donné/ à Marguerite Elisabet de Largillierre/ sa fille/ Epouse/ du S. Jean Batiste Houzé de La Boulaye/ Equier Cons. Du Roy com.re des guerres. Painted in the same year, the present painting may be seen as a counterpart to the self portrait.

Although clothed in an elegant red velvet dress, richly ornamented with lace and brocade, Marguerite Elisabeth exudes above all in this portrait the freshness and simplicity of her tender age. With the rich red of her finery offset by the pure pearly white of the carnations in her hand, the graceful figure offers up to the viewer an image of radiant sincerity. In the tradition of his beautiful 1714 work Mains (Paris, Musée de Louvre) which assembles different postures and details of hands from earlier portraits, Largilliere here accords particular attention to the delicate gesture and movement of his daughter's hand as she holds together her robes.

Since its execution, this painting has been conserved in its perfect original state. It was engraved by Jean Georges Will in 1738 (see fig. 2) and is also closely affiliated to another version of this portrait in bust only format, signed and dated 1726 and sold on the French market in June 2002 (Anonymous Sale, Paris, Tajan, June 25, 2002, lot 65). In a more restricted format, this second version depicts only the face and neckline of the artist's daughter (see Nicolas de Largillierre 1656-1746, exhibition catalogue, October 14, 2003 – January 30, 2004, p. 49, illustrated).

We are grateful to Mr. Dominique Brême for confirming the attribution to Nicolas de Largillierre following firsthand inspection.


Fig. 1: Nicolas de Largillierre, Self portrait, 1726
© Château de Parentignat, Marquis de Lastic collection / Photo David Bordes

Fig. 2: Jean Georges Will, Portrait of Marguerite Elisabeth de Largillierre, engraved after Nicolas de Largillierre, 1738