François Hubert Drouais

Duchesse de Crillon, 1861;
Dr. Magin, Paris, by 1913;
His sale, Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, 23 June 1922, lot 14, to Wildenstein for 97,000 francs;
With Wildenstein and Company, Paris (according to inscription in 1922 sale catalogue);
Paul Dutasta, Paris, by 1926;
His sale, Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, 4 June 1926, lot 62;
Ernst Rosenfeld, New York, by 1928, until at least 1942;
Charles Dunlop, New York, by 1975;
His posthumous sale, New York, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 4 December 1975, lot 377, to a member of the present family.

Berlin, Königliche Akadamie, 1910, no. 35;
London, Burlington Fine Arts Club, Pictures and Drawings of the French School of the 18th Century, 1914, no. 38;
New York, Jacques Seiligmann & Co. Inc., Exhibition Illustrating The Work of Fifteen Masters of the Eighteenth Century, 27 November-15 December 1928 (lent by Ernst Rosenfeld);
New York, Parke-Bernet Galleries, French and English Art Treasures of the Eighteenth Century, 20-30 December 1942, no. 13 (lent by the Estate of Ernst Rosenfeld).

P. Lacroix, Annuaire des artistes et des amateurs, Paris 1861, p. 126.

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 has been quite recently restored, is in beautiful condition and could be hung as is. However, the lining has been applied with wax which gives the surface a rather thick feeling, yet it is easily reversible. There are almost no retouches. There is a small vertical restoration in the right side of the hat and a couple of the cracks in the darker colors of the background have been retouched. Overall this picture is in spectacular condition.
"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 charming portrait depicts Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles (20 September  1759 – 5 April  1794), an identification recorded since at least 1922, and perhaps originally recognized from an inscription on the lining canvas. Though shown here at age four, Hérault would grow up to eventually become a well known and influential politician, and ardent proponent of the French Revolution. Born to a noble family in 1759, he studied law, and at the age of twenty was appointed legal advisor to Louis XVI, thanks to the intervention of his mother, the Duchesse de Polignac, a close friend of Marie Antoinette. As an intellectual famed for his eloquence, he would eventually shift his political allegiances to the far left, and was elected president of the National Convention multiple times. Hérault aligned himself with early leaders of the Revolution such as Georges Danton and was eventually guillotined with him and others of Danton's group in the Tuileries in April 1794. Just a year prior, Jean-Louis Laneuville exhibited a portrait of Hérault in the Paris Salon (fig.1). That picture was sold, New York, Sotheby's, 19 May 1995, lot 136 and is now in the collection of the Musée Carnavalet, Paris. In addition to his various roles in the highest ranks of the changing governments in Paris, he wrote, among other books, Visite à Buffon, Èloge Thérie de l'ambition. For further details about the life of Hérault de Séchelles, see Pierre Larousse, Grand Dictionnaire Universel, vol. IX, p. 203.

This portrait is known in at least two copies, one, sold Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 17 October 2006, lot 308, incorrectly lists early provenance and exhibition history which in fact pertains to the present work.