Joseph Vivien

Daniel Bouette the Younger (the sitter),
by descent to his daughter, Madame Louis-René Pinson de Ménerville,
by descent to her son, Louis-Marie Pomponne Pinson de Ménerville,
by descent to to his daughter, Madame Jean-Thomas de Maussion,
by bequest to her adopted daughter, Madame Léon-Stanislas Héron de Villefosse,
by descent to her son, Baron Jean Héron de Villefosse,
by descent to Private collection,
their sale, Monaco, Christie's, 15 June 1986, lot 18 (as attributed to Maurice Quentin de La Tour);
sale, Paris, Noveau Drouot, 16 June 1987, lot 9 (as Attributed to Joseph Vivien);
sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 7 June 1989, lot 154 (as Attributed to Joseph Vivien),
where purchased by the present owner

N. Jeffares, Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800, London 2006, p. 557, reproduced

Please note this pastel has not been viewed out of its frame. Colors remain strong. Some slight rubbing in the lower half of his garment in the blue area underneath the lace. Sold in carved and gilded frame.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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Daniel Bouette seems to have had an illustrious public career: according to an old label on the reverse of the pastel, he was 'conseiller-secrétaire de France and contrôleur à la Chancellerie de Rouen', and in 1737 he was mayor of Rouen.  Neil Jeffares dates the present work to circa 1725.¹

This handsome, baroque, oval pastel is the work of Joseph Vivien (1657-1734), a native of Lyon.  The artist enrolled at the Académie royale under the painter François Bonnemer (1638-1689), won the second prix de Rome in 1678, and became maître peintre three years later.  It appears that, advised by Charles Le Brun, Vivien started his career as a portrait-painter.  Neil Jeffares has noted that following the death of Nanteuil in 1678, the medium of pastel was used only by few, now unknown, artists, and has suggested that Vivien may have turned to pastel to distinguish himself from rival portraitists such as Rigaud, Largillière and de Troy.  Whatever his reasons for adopting the medium, Vivien became a dominant pastellist of his time, and took the medium to an unprecedented level, employing an incredible tonal range and a fine, stumped finish, which, in the hands of such a skilled artist,  ensured superb effects in the rendering of surfaces such as fabric and armour.  Moreover, as Jeffares has perceptively observed, despite the artist's monumental and baroque compositions, his portraits are always, like this outstanding pastel, both realistic and animated.

¹ For more information on Joseph Vivien see online edition of jeffares, op. cit.: www.pastellists.com/Articles/Vivien.pdf