Jean-Baptiste Oudry

Portrait of a Man Holding a Letter, a drawing by Jean-Baptiste Oudry 1686 - 1755

Circa 1710

This drawing full of freshness presents us with the profile of an elegant lady, drawn by Augustin de Saint-Aubin on a beautiful summer day in 1776, during the early months of Louis X...

We thank Mrs. Bożena Anna Kowalczyk who suggested the attribution to Francesco Galimberti based on a photograph of the artwork. This engaging drawing, finely executed in black and red chalks, depicts a Venetian diplomat in his 'new clothes...

This marvelous portrait on vellum is the work of a rare Dutch Golden Age artist, Casper Casteleyn, who has also drawn a closely related portrait now at the Fondation Custodia in Pari...

This intensely expressive figure is a preparatory study for "Arab Market on the Tocria Plain", a painting exhibited at the 1865 Salon and now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lille. 1...

This replica of the last self-portrait of Jean-Baptiste Greuze painted in 1804, executed by his daughter Anna at her father's side and recently rediscovered, provides us with a poignant image of the great artist, represented with panache despite the disillusions of life. 1. Jean-Baptiste Greuze Jean-Baptiste Greuze was the sixth child of a roofer from Tournus and retained a certain rusticity in his behaviour from his provincial childhood, beyond his taste for describing picturesque scenes of the countryside. He initially started training with a little-known painter from Lyon, Charles Grandon, before his genius was recognised in Paris where he became a full-time student of the Académie (of Painting) in 1755. He exhibited his work for the first time at the Salon during the summer of 1755, before leaving on a trip to Italy in the company of Louis Gougenot, abbot of Chezal-Benoît. Upon his return to Paris, Greuze became a prolific painter, participating widely in the Salons held between 1759 and 1765, to which he sent no less than 63 paintings: numerous genre scenes (The Marriage Contract, The Beloved Mother), but also portraits of his family circle, of courtiers and art lovers, or of his colleagues. The Academy closed the doors of the Salons to him in 1767 for not having produced his reception piece within six months of his reception, as was the tradition. He worked actively on this painting (Emperor Severus rebukes Caracalla, his son, for trying to assassinate him ) until the summer of 1769, tackling historical and mythological subjects for the first time. Once this was completed, he was then fully admitted to the Academy, but as a genre painter, and not as an historical painter, which had been one of the greatest humiliations of his life. Greuze then refused any participation in events organised by the Academy or its successor, the Academy of Fine Arts until 1800. Abandoning history painting, he gave a new twist to genre scenes, bringing them closer to history painting, as in this pair of canvases which constitutes some of his masterpieces: The Paternal Curse: The Ungrateful Son and The Paternal Curse: The Punished Son . Married in 1759 to Anne-Gabrielle Babuti, the daughter of a Parisian bookseller, his marriage was unhappy and his wife probably frequently unfaithful. The institution of divorce enabled him to record their separation in 1793, keeping his two daughters Anna-Geneviève, born in April 1762, and Louise-Gabrielle, born in May 1764, with him. Little is known about his daughter Anna except that she was herself a painter and lived with her father until his death. It is likely that most of the paintings she produced up to that date were attributed to her father, whose technique she shared to a great extent, making it extremely difficult to establish an autonomous corpus of her paintings. Greuze died in his studio at the Louvre on March 21st 1805. The attention paid to the expressivity of his characters and the emotional charge they convey enabled Jean-Baptiste Greuze to enjoy immense popularity with the eighteenth-century public, and they still constitute Greuze's true modernity. As the artist said, "I dipped my brush in my heart". Greuze was also an exceptional draughtsman and a portraitist of immense talent and exceptional longevity who painted both the Dauphin (the son of Louis XV and father to Louis XVI) and the young Napoleon Bonaparte. 2. Greuze's self-portraits Greuze was very much influenced by Dutch paintings during all his life. While the source of his inspiration for genre scenes can be found in Gerard Dou...

This recently rediscovered portrait of Santi di Tito depicts a Florentine senator, with a letter in his hand indicating that the painting was executed in 1574 when the sitter was 66 years old. On the basis of these clues, it is tempting to view it as a portrait of Bartolomeo Panciatichi, who was painted some thirty years before by Bronzino (1503 - 1572). While the treatment of the hands recalls the Florentine tradition of Mannerist portraits, the comparison with Bronzino's portrait illustrates Santi di Tito's search for greater realism, despite the stereotyped composition. 1. Santi di Tito, Counter-Reformation painter and portraitist Santi di Tito was the great painter of the Florentine Counter-Reformation. He proposed a new artistic language that broke away from Mannerism. Little is known about his training in Florence (perhaps alongside Bronzino or Baccio Bandinelli), but this period of training enabled him to join the Company of Saint Luke, the guild of Florentine painters, in 1554. Between 1560 and 1564, Santi di Tito spent time in Rome, where he frequented the workshop of Taddeo Zuccari. This stay had a fundamental influence on his work, thanks to the discovery of the late work of Raphael, but also his encounters with the painters Francesco Salviati and Federico Barocci. Around 1565, Santi di Tito returned to Florence, where he remained until the end of his life, dividing his talents between the creation of important religious paintings and countless portraits. He became one of the city's leading painters, distinguishing himself, in particular, in the creation of large religious compositions in which the spirit of the Counter-Reformation was reflected. In 1568, Santi di Tito became a member of the Confraternity of Saint Thomas Aquinas...

CHILD - Pastel on paper cm.51x41 signed lower right by Alfonso Grassi, Italy. Wooden frame with passeportout cm.94x73

A fine 18th century French pastel portrait on paper of an aristocrat wearing the order of St Louis, inferring that the sitter had been in the military serving the King. The pastel is unsigned but to the the back is a piece of the original backing paper with a notation to the Baronne de Minck. The paper has been backed with a type of vellum, It is presented in a plain gilt wood frame on a period stretcher under 18th century glass. The artist has used the pastel to create a wonderful soft velvety texture so characteristic of this medium which became so popular for portraits in the 18th century. A charming rendition of a typical 18th century nobleman...

'Portrait of Woman in Pearl Necklace', pastel on fine art paper (see information below), by Charles Camoin (circa 1920s) dedicated to Marie-Louise Tavernier. Regrettably, research on...

Master portrait artist and illustration legend Bob Peak captures the likeness, dignity and essence of Saudi Arabia's King Faisal for Time Magazine Cover ...

I apologize for the reflections on the glass of this exquisite Gaston Bouy pastel drawing. It's in a very nice frame in great condition, and I did not want...

This figurative portrait drawing titled "Jade" is an original artwork by Chambers Austelle made of acrylic, chalk pastel, wax pastel. This piece measures 12"h x 12"w. Chambers Austelle is a contemporary figurative painter and educator living and working in Charleston, SC. Austelle is best known for her compositions of vivid color and female subjects. The isolated environments challenge the viewer to question the way beauty and women are perceived in our culture. Austelle’s work has been exhibited nationally and exists in many private collections. She was awarded Best in Show at The City Gallery for “Piccolo Spoleto’s 2016 Juried Exhibition”, as well as Charlie Magazine’s “50 Most Progressive”. Most recently, she was the 2018 recipient of St. Thomas’ Artist...