The Property of a Gentleman
Michel-Martin Drölling
Self-portrait of the artist wearing a foulard
Lot Closed
December 9, 04:29 PM GMT
Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
The Property of a Gentleman
Michel-Martin Drölling
Paris 1786 - 1851
Self-portrait of the artist wearing a foulard
oil on canvas, an oval
unframed: 59.3 x 53 cm.; 23⅜ x 20⅞ in.
framed: 80.2 x 74.4 cm.; 31⅝ x 29¼ in.
Where acquired by the present owner.
Michel-Martin Drölling first trained under his father, Martin Drölling, and then in the studio of Jacques-Louis David from 1806. In 1810 he obtained the Prix de Rome for The Wrath of Achilles,1 and then studied at the Villa Medici for five years. When he returned to Paris in 1816 he launched a successful career as a history painter and decorator and was also much sought after as a portrait painter. This handsome self-portrait can be compared with another self-portrait of the artist of similar dimensions, signed and dated 1804 when he was 18 years old, which sold at Christie's, London, 9 July 1999, lot 56.2 Drölling appears of a similar age in both these self-portraits.
1 https://www.artsy.net/artwork/michel-martin-drolling-the-wrath-of-achilles