Master Paintings and Drawings

Antoine Vestier

Portrait of Dr. Jean-Louis Baudelocque, half-length, seated at a table with an open book

Lot Closed

October 22, 02:51 PM GMT

Estimate

20,000 - 30,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Antoine Vestier

Avallon 1740 - 1824 Paris

Portrait of Dr. Jean-Louis Baudelocque, half-length, seated at a table with an open book

oil on canvas

canvas: 32¼ by 25⅝ in.; 82 by 65 cm.

framed: 40 by 33¼ in.; 101.5 by 84.4 cm.

With Fleurville, Paris, 1968;

With Wildenstein and Co., New York, by 1970;

Alice and George Benston, Rochester, New York, by 1983.

E. M. Zafran, The Rococo Age: French Masterpieces of the 18th Century, exhibition catalogue, Atlanta 1983, cat. no. 39, pp. 93-4, reproduced p. 79;

J. Baillo, “’French Rococo Paintings:’ A Notable Exhibition in Atlanta,” in Apollo, CXIX, no. 263, January 1984, pp. 18-19, reproduced fig. 8;

A-M. Passez, Antoine Vestier, Paris 1989, pp. 80, 136-138, cat. no. 43, reproduced.

Dr. Jean-Louis Baudeloque (1745-1810) was an obstetrician and professor of medicine in Paris. He wrote a popular book on midwifery, Principes sur l’art des accouchemens par demande et réponses en faveur des élèves sages-femmes, and was highly regarded for the advanced childbirth techniques that he pioneered and taught, in particular the caesarean section. In 1806, Napoleon appointed him as the first chair of obstetrics in France; he was the accoucheur to Napoleon's second wife, Empress Marie-Louise, as well as Napoleon's sister, Caroline Bonaparte. The book leaning on the table in his portrait is the second volume of "Cours D'Accouchement," a childbirth manual, alluding to Dr. Baudelocque's profession.