Louyse Moillon

Acquis par l'actuel propriétaire il y a une trentaine d'années d'une collection française

Condition report of the restoration done between May and September 2014 by the restorer Carole Juillet (capacited by the French Museums Board ). Condition of the painting and pictorial technique: The painting is in very good condition. Given his age (1629) there are just very few losses. Most of them are located all along the assemblage of the two planks, which is frequent for 17th century painted panels. Its pictorial technique attracts our attention for its purity, its spontaneous touch very precise and minimalist. A light pentimento is perceptible in the basket on the left. The varnish: The restoration has begun with the retourching of an old intervention. A progressive and meticulous cleaning has been realized under binocular with alcohols of diverse concentrations and alcohol-based gels. Almost the whole old varnish has been removed. Most of the repaints have also been removed, except the two old little ones, well integrated, one on the foliage and the other one, on one of the plums. The reinforcement of the pictorial layer: These areas were more visible because the pictorial layer is very thin, as its preparatory layer, and that the panel is made of two planks, certainly rift-cut. As they got old, these planks have naturally curved, which caused uplifts in the pictorial layer all along the wood fibers. I conducted a very meticulous refitting of the whole pictorial layer with an acetic glue. Most of the areas have found a perfect flatness. The panel : The panel is made of two oak planks, with a central horizontal joint. We notice two keys along the joint on the reverse side. The panel is a bit curved. The reintegration: Some mastics (made of animal glue and kaolin) have been used to refill some few little losses. The mastics were sculpted or retouched with pigments of restoration Gamblin. Before the intervention the pictorial layer has been isolated with a Dammar varnish layer. After the reintegration the pictorial layer have been protected with the same varnish applied by pulverization, in two layers. The last varnish layer has been mixed with an acrylic (Paralloïd) to assure a better protection in a humid environment. The frame : The painting is presented in a sculpted and gilt wood frame, French work of the 17th century, period Louis XIII. It has been specially modified in order to respect the panel curve, with on the reverse a wooden chest that protects it from humidity.
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Inédit jusqu’à présent l’apparition de ce magnifique panier de quetsches sur un entablement constitue un apport tout à fait majeur dans l’œuvre de Louyse Moillon. Par sa date tout d’abord, 1629 l’artiste révèle ici, à 19 ans, l’une des toutes premières natures mortes signée et datée connue en France. Elle est directement à rapprocher de l’œuvre, Nature morte aux pêches dans une coupe de porcelaine bleue blanc ming (fig 1), datée de la même année vendue chez Sotheby's à Paris le 27 juin 2013, lot 40 (1 033 500 €). Par sa virtuosité ensuite, magistrale, l’artiste impose une autorité picturale au service de la densité du sujet, une simple nature morte, qui prend ici un reflet presque mystique.

Peintre de natures mortes, Louyse Moillon, impose le sujet en France au début du XVIIe siècle. Elle affirme sa personnalité parmi les artistes du genre comme Charlotte Vignon, Jacques Linard ou encore François Garnier.

Le genre de la nature morte fut considéré comme mineur en France mais il sera très apprécié à partir du début du XVIIe siècle et du règne de Louis XIII. Les premières œuvres françaises connues sont datées des années 1620 et étaient très appréciées des érudits qui considéraient ces tableaux comme dignes de figurer dans les cabinets de curiosités.

Louyse Moillon, avec le tableau que nous présentons, a voulu imposer une œuvre de grand charisme. La qualité picturale est ici revendiquée par l’artiste avec une calligraphie magnifique. Elle revendique fièrement son statut de femme, de femme peintre, de femme peintre de natures mortes …

Cette œuvre est ainsi érigée en faire-valoir, en manifeste.

Notre nature morte prend pour sujet un simple panier rempli de quetsches présenté de manière frontale sur un entablement. La composition rigoureuse est pure, équilibrée. L’impact du rendu virtuose entre presque en rupture avec la simplicité de la composition. Cette sensation vive face à une œuvre si puissante devait être le but recherché par l’artiste. En effet, les premières natures mortes françaises ont été peintes par des artistes protestants dans la tradition des œuvres hollandaises. La nature doit être présentée comme on la perçoit sans être embellie ou modifiée, elle doit nous inviter à une réflexion sur le temps qui passe.

Dans la peinture française, les œuvres du genre de la nature morte sont généralement très dépouillées et laissent aux fruits ou aux fleurs la place principale. Les quetsches sont ici reproduites avec un réalisme saisissant. On perçoit leur fraîcheur et le délicat apprêt sur leur peau est parfaitement perceptible. La composition est mise en scène sur un fond sombre accentuant l’effet théâtral, caravagesque. L’entablement fait partie de la composition. Il est visible sur toute la longueur du panneau enfermant l’espace visible du spectateur dans un univers restreint et est également décrit avec un grand réalisme. La lumière parvient de l’extérieur du cadre, depuis la gauche, elle dessine l’ombre du panier, accentue la dramatique et le réalisme.

Louyse Moillon est l’une des premières femmes peintres dont le nom soit parvenu jusqu’à nous avec un corpus d’œuvres important. Ainsi, au même titre qu’ Artemisia Gentileschi et quelques autres artistes italiennes, elle fait partie de ces femmes qui, malgré la difficulté à s’imposer dans le milieu artistique de leur époque , ont réussi à laisser une trace très significative dans l’histoire de l’art. L’une comme l’autre ont bénéficié de l’aide d’un père peintre ; les ateliers de formation ne leur étant pas ouverts, il s’agissait de l’un des seuls moyens pour une femme d’apprendre la peinture.

Notre tableau est la parfaite illustration de la force de caractère et de talent d’une jeune artiste de dix-neuf ans qui affirme avec éclat la juste ambition de s’affirmer comme maître de la peinture à l’égal des hommes.

The appearance of this beautiful basket of damson plums on a table is a quite important inclusion in the work of Louyse Moillon. Firstly, because of the early dating of 1629. The artist revealed at the age of 19 one of the very first signed and dated still lifes known in France. It is directly comparable with the work, Still Life with Peaches in a Chinese Ming Porcelain on an Entablature (fig 1), dated with the same year auctioned at Sotheby's, Paris on June 27, 2013, lot 40 (1 033 500 €). Then because of her virtuosity as well as masterly manner, the artist imposed a pictorial authority for the purpose of the subject matter’s density, a simple still life, which takes on an almost mystical pondering.

Louyse Moillon, as a still life artist, established the theme in France during the early 17th century. She included her persona among other artists of this genre such as Charlotte Vignon, Jacques Linard and François Garnier.

The still life genre had little regard in France, but became appreciated after the early 17th century and the reign of Louis XIII. The first known French works are dated from the 1620s and were popular among scholars who considered these paintings as worthy of display in cabinets of curiosities.

Louyse Moillon with the presented painting, wanted to introduce a work of great charisma. The pictorial quality was claimed by the artist with beautiful calligraphy. She proudly declared her status as a woman, female artist, female artist of still lifes…

This work is thoroughly set to be deemed as a manifesto.

The presented still life adapts the subject of a simple basket filled with damson plums arranged frontally on a table. The rigorous composition is pure and balanced. The impact lies with rendering the virtuoso as almost breaking from the simplicity of the composition. This lively sensation against a work so powerful was likely the objective sought by the artist. In fact, the first French still lifes were painted by Protestant artists following the tradition of Dutch works. Nature must be presented as it is perceived without being embellished or modified. It must invite one to consider the passing of time.

In French painting, the works from the still life genre are generally quite bare and place fruit or flowers on the primary plane. The damson plums are reproduced here with stunning realism. One can perceive that the freshness and delicate coating on their peel is perfectly lucid. The composition is staged against a dark background highlighting the Caravagesque theatrical effect. The table’s edge is part of the composition. It is visible throughout the length of the panel enclosing the viewer’s visible space in a restricted universe and is also described with great realism. The light projects from beyond the frame and from the left. It draws the shadow of the basket and accentuates the drama and realism.

Louyse Moillon was one of the first women painters whose name is known today along with an important body of work. Thus, in the same way that Artemisia Gentileschi and some other female Italian artists, she is one of those women that were able to leave a very significant mark in art history, despite the difficulty to succeed in the art field during their time. As studios were not open to women, both had benefitted with help from a painter-father. It was one of the only ways for a woman to learn painting.

This artwork is the perfect illustration of a young artist’s strength of character and talent at the age of nineteen that elegantly confirms her ambition to be established as a master of painting equal to men.