François Pascal Simon Gérard, called Baron Gérard

Collection of the sitter, Paris;
Thence by descent to her son, Baron Jérôme-Frédéric Pichon (1812-1896) after her death in 1847;
His deceased sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, March 29 - April 10, 1897, lot 1319 (sold 2,000 Francs);
Where purchased by André Brongniart, Paris.

Paris, Salon, 1795, no. 226;
Paris, Bazar de Bonne-Nouvelle, Exhibition of paintings in aid of the Artists' Pensions and Relief Fund (au profit de la Caisse de Secours et Pensions de la Société des Artistes), 1846, no. 30;
Paris, Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Portraits du siècle (second exhibition), 1885, no. 87.

Mr. Rob, Exposition publique des ouvrages des artistes vivans dans le Salon du Louvre de Septembre, année de 1795 vieux stile, ou vendémiaire de l'an quatrième de la République, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Deloynes collection, vol. 18, no. 469, p. 391-501;
Seconde lettre de Polyscope sur les ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, etc. exposés dans le grand salon du Museum, 1795, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Deloynes collection, vol. 18, no. 472, pp. 553-54;
Critique sur les tableaux exposés au Salon, l'an quatrième, 1795, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Deloynes collection, vol. 17, no. 426, pp. 32-33;
T. C. Bruun-Neergard, Sur la situation des Beaux-Arts en France ou Lettres d'un Danois à son ami, Paris, an IX, 1801, p. 116;
J. Le Breton, "Rapports à l'empereur sur les progrès des sciences, des lettres et des arts depuis 1789, 5", in Beaux-Arts (1808), Paris, 1989, p. 108, note 46, et p. 120;
A.C. Quatrième de Quincy, Suite du Recueil de notices historiques lues dans les séances publiques de l'Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1837, p. 203;
C. Lenormant, François Gérard, peintre d'histoire, Paris, 1847 (2^nd edition), pp. 55, 102, 185;
E.J. Delecluze, Louis David, son école et son temps, Paris, 1855, new edition, Paris, 1983, pp. 276, 278;
H. Gérard, Œuvre du baron François Gérard, Paris, 1857, vol. 3, s. p. (reproduction of an engraving by C. Bazin);
J. Renouvier, Histoire de l'Art pendant la Révolution, Paris, 1863, vol. 1, pp. 24, 89 ; vol. 2, p. 456;
C. Blanc, Histoire des peintres de toutes les écoles, Paris, 1863, (F. Gérard, p. 7);
H. Delaborde, Etudes sur les Beaux-Arts en France et en Italie, Paris, 1864, vol. 2, pp. 234-235;
H. Gérard, Correspondance de François Gérard, peintre d'histoire avec les artistes et les personnages célèbres de son temps et précédée d'une notice sur la vie et les œuvres de Gérard par M. Adolphe Viollet-le-Duc, Paris, 1867, p. 11;
H. Gérard, Lettres adressées au baron François Gérard, peintre d'histoire, par les artistes et les personnages célèbres de son temps, Paris, 1886, vol. 1, p. 7 (note 2), et vol. 2, p. 408;
J. Silvestre de Sacy, Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart (1739-1813), sa vie, son œuvre, Paris, 1940, p. 112-113, reproduced pl. XXXIX;
A. Latreille, François Gérard (1770-1837). Catalogue raisonné des portraits peints par le baron François Gérard, dissertation from the Ecole du Louvre, Paris, 1973, no. 122;
J. F. Heim, C. Beraud, et P. Heim, Les Salons de peinture de la Révolution française 1789-1799, Paris, 1989, p. 222 (engraving);
A. Halliday, Facing the public. Portraiture in the aftermath of the French Revolution, Manchester (N.Y.), 1999, p. 52 (reproduction of an engraving by Huot);
C. Lecosse, « De l'intérêt d'être amis, ou le Bélisaire de Gérard et son portrait d'Isabey, peintre », in Au-delà du maître, Girodet et l'atelier de David, exhibition catalogue, Montargis, 2005, p. 109, note 15.

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 fairly recently restored. The canvas is unlined. There is one small reinforcement across the lower edge addressing a thin, horizontal break in the canvas that measures about 2 inches, in the dress of the girl. In the remainder of the painting, very tiny retouches address half a dozen small cracks in the face and a few spots of restoration have been added in the background, but overall the condition is very impressive and the picture should 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."

François Gérard exhibited two paintings at his Salon debut in 1795: a small Belisarius, and a Portrait of a Woman (nos. 225 and 226 in the Salon livret). The Belisarius, a small format study for a larger canvas that was not finished in time for the opening of the Salon, has recently been rediscovered and is now in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.  The final, large scale canvas was later in the collection of Eugène de Beauharnais, duke of Leuchtenberg, although its current location is unknown. The other painting from the Salon, the Portrait of a Woman, is the present work depicting Mlle. Brongniart.

Born September 15, 1780, Alexandrine Emilie Brongniart (1780-1847) was the second daughter of the architect Alexandre Théodore Brongniart (1739-1813) and Anne-Louise Degremont, a prolific and influential family in Parisian intellectual life.  Emilie herself demonstrated artistic talent at a very early age:  she would later join the workshop of the sculptor Chaudet and receive drawing lessons from Jacques Louis David.  It was doubtless advantageous for the young Gérard, whose own origins were humble, to be chosen by the family to paint Emilie's portrait, and he later became a close family friend.

Painted when she was fifteen, Emilie mentions her portrait sessions with Gérard in her diary, in which she faithfully recorded her daily occupations for her brother, Alexandre. From these entries, we know that the initial composition was sketched out in April, and was finished by the 30th Germinal (20th April).  It seems, however, that Gérard was dissatisfied with this work.  In her entry from 17th May, Emilie writes, "Gérard was so unhappy with my portrait that he insisted on starting over," and later in the same day she notes, "in the afternoon, I posed in his studio because he wanted to draw my portrait on another canvas..."¹  The picture that was exhibited at the Salon was developed from this secondary sketch, which seems to have better pleased Gérard.

In a letter to her brother, dated using the Revolutionary calendar, 24th Vendémiaire, year IV (15 October 1795), Emilie talks about the sensation her portrait caused when it was exhibited:

"... I was dressed like he painted me, and it is such a good likeness that all eyes were turned towards me and that people pointed their fingers. The next day, the reactions were a little less strong, as I wore a hat. The painting is considered to be the most beautiful one, despite there being two very fine ones by Mr. David, who says himself that mine is a masterpiece..." ²

The Salon critics, too, were full of praise for the painting. The Mercure de France for instance writes:

"...This amiable young girl presents herself to the critic with modesty, but without fear. She's alive, is about to blush if you look at her with an interested eye. The budding roses and lilies of her flesh announce the dawn of a life to which blossoming adulthood already gives added attraction. One would think the painting done in the sixteenth century, if one considered the background and the pose; the fabric of the clothes is as realistic as it is in the portrait of a woman painted by his master". ³

This success prompted Gérard to use her likeness again in his painting of Cupid and Psyche (Paris, Louvre).

Early in 1801, Emilie married Louis-André Pichon (1771-1854) and went to live with him in the United States, where he was appointed Chargé d'Affaires.  Later, in 1830, while occupying the post of civil intendant in Algiers, he received the title of Baron from Charles X. The couple had three children.  After Emilie's death on 18 March 1847, her portrait passed to her second son, Baron Jérôme-Frédéric Pichon (1812-1896), who, for an unknown reason, some time between 1885 and his death, reduced the dimensions of the painting, cutting off not only the lower portion of the figure's arms and dress, but also Gérard's signature, FG 1795, which originally appeared in the bottom right corner.  Today, the lower part of the original stretcher still bears a partially erased ink inscription by the hand of Jérôme Pichon which reads: "Brongniart, daughter of Théodore Brongniart, architect of the king, and of Anne... 1780 + 18th March 1847...1800 of Louis-André Baron Pichon. She is my mother, the best and loveliest of women...Pichon. Painted by Gérard in 1795". ⁴

Ingres later copied Gérard's painting in a small sketch, entitled Young girl with her arms crossed (graphite pencil, 8.1 by 5.8 cm - Musée de Montauban, MI. 867.397), and his portrait of Mlle. Rivière, shown in the 1806 Salon, is also indebted to Gérard's portrait of Emilie.

We are grateful to Mr. Alain Latreille for his contribution in cataloguing this painting.


1.  "Le citoyen Gérard était si mécontent de mon portrait qu'il a voulu absolument le recommencer..." and "l'après-midi, j'ai été poser à son atelier parce qu'il voulait dessiner mon portrait sur une autre toile pour le recommencer."
2. J. Silvestre de Sacy, op. cit., p. 113 (letters to her brother, from the archives of Colonel Audouin).
3. In the same Salon of 1795 (no. 106), David exhibited the portrait of Emilie Seriziat and her son (Paris, Louvre). The painting is one of a pair; its twin, the portrait of Pierre Seriziat, was also presented, but not in the booklet.
4. "...Brongniart fille de Théodore Brongniart architecte du roi et d'Anne...1780 + 18 Mars 1847...1800 de Louis-André Baron Pichon. C'est ma mere, le meilleure et e plus charmante des femmes... Pichon. Peint par Gérard en 1795."