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Louis-Gabriel Blanchet
Presumed artist self-portrait
Circa 1730

$53,592.51

£39,906.70

€45,000

CA$73,411.02

A$81,861.59

CHF 42,711.89

MX$1,004,472.58

NOK 543,654.30

SEK 515,100.64

DKK 342,568.67

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About the Item

Louis-Gabriel BLANCHET (Versailles, 1701 – Rome, 1772) Presumed self-portrait of the artist Oil on canvas H. 73 cm; W. 60 cm Circa 1730 Originally presented in a Restoration period frame with a "Mignard" cartouche, this beautiful painting initially appeared to us as a work from northern Italy. However, it exuded a rather French form of refinement, suggesting that its artist may have assimilated a dual influence from both sides of the Alps. We thank our colleague and friend Philippe Mendès for spontaneously and judiciously "bringing out" the name of Louis-Gabriel Blanchet, a Romanized French portraitist, whose spirit and stylistic characteristics we clearly recognize here. Blanchet's "French" years, before his final departure for Rome in 1728, following his winning of the second Grand Prix for painting after Subleyras in 1727, are extremely poorly documented. His father, Gabriel, was valet to Blouin, himself Louis XIV's first valet at the time. According to Thierry Lefrançois, Blanchet was one of the few students of Nicolas Bertin (1667-1736), whose studio he is said to have joined in the early 1720s. At a baptism on March 24, 1724, where he was godfather, he is mentioned as a painter in the picture store of the Duke of Antin, the director of buildings between 1708 and 1736. At this time, he was probably already married to Jeanne Quément, with whom he had a daughter also named Jeanne, who would marry Nicolas Aviet, the son of a valet in the queen's wardrobe, in Versailles in 1738. When Blanchet arrived in Rome in October 1728, he was accompanied by Subleyras, Trémolières, and Slodtz. He enjoyed the goodwill of Vleughels, the director of the Académie de France, which had been based at the Palazzo Mancini since 1725, even though the latter was not always kind to our resident. From 1732, he was under the protection of the Duke of Saint-Aignan when he took up his post as ambassador to Rome. Along with Slodtz and Subleyras, they formed a trio of friends, joined by Joseph Vernet shortly after his arrival in Rome in 1734. Slodtz and Blanchet, on the occasion of Subleyras's marriage in 1739, were there to attest that their friend was not bound by any marital commitment, and Blanchet was a witness at Vernet's wedding in 1745. It is most likely from these early years in Rome that our portrait of the artist dates, the expression and turn of his face irresistibly reminiscent of a self-portrait. The still relatively youthful features may correspond to Blanchet's thirty-something years, and the fluffy wig was still fashionable at this time. The painting fits well with the depiction of a young painter wanting to display both the beginnings of success and a certain simplicity or restraint. A slight smile expresses a form of assurance in this man with a gentle, sincere gaze and a face radiating a keen sense of wit. We find here the air of intimacy present in almost all of Blanchet's portraits, even those from the 1750s and 1760s, as well as an almost complicity with the viewer. The spirit of the painting is quite close to that of the presumed portrait of Bouchardon (painted around 1730) and the portrait of Pannini, painted in 1736, but it possesses a more natural quality, notably thanks to the absence of decorum. Our work exhibits the characteristics of Blanchet's paintings: elegance, luminosity (especially in the whites), vibrant and refined colors (here, the harmony of the garnet of the garment and the slate blue of the background, whose uniformity is tempered by a very sketched landscape and a grove of greenery), light complexions, rather rosy cheekbones, often full lips, and rather tight framing. According to the Academy's rules, Blanchet's stay should have ended in the spring of 1732, but, for reasons unknown, he remained in the Eternal City until his death, as did his friend Subleyras, with whom he shared accommodation until the late 1730s. The latter regularly called upon him to collaborate on his paintings, such as The Meal at Simon's. Through Saint-Aignan's intervention, Blanchet was employed in the late 1730s by the Stuart princely family, then exiled in Italy. He notably produced copies (now lost) after Liotard of the portraits of Charles Edward and Henry Benedict, the sons of James III Stuart. The latter also commissioned three other portraits (now in the National Portrait Gallery in London), whose more formal character contrasts with the intimate spirit of Blanchet's portraits. Blanchet frequented English painters, such as the landscape painter Richard Wilson, and studied with the Scottish portraitist Katherine Read (1723-1778). Blanchet was known for being helpful and friendly; but he was fickle and spendthrift, often in debt, which earned him imprisonment in 1752. On this occasion, he had not received Natoire's support, the new director of the Academy, while the previous one, Jean-François de Troy (1679-1752), had been rather kind to him. In 1755, Blanchet remarried an Italian woman, Annunziata Dies, the daughter of a goldsmith, who brought him a form of financial security and stability. In the 1750s, Blanchet painted allegorical genre scenes with putti in the Rococo style, amiable and decorative, often intended for doorways; he also produced a few religious paintings. But he remained primarily a portraitist, and while he benefited from the abundant clientele of the Grand Tour, particularly the British, he was in strong competition with Pompeo Batoni (1708-1787), who knew how to depict these "tourists" more lavishly in front of ruins and various monuments, while Blanchet retained his more intimate and psychological approach to portraying his models. Our painting is therefore one of the few early works known by Blanchet, the most intimate and "simple", before the time of the "official" and formal portraits of the Stuarts and official commissions, then the mature period of the years 1750-1770, when the artist remained faithful to his style but applied mastered and proven recipes. It also allows us, very probably, to know his face.

Creator:
Louis-Gabriel Blanchet (1701 - 1772, French)
Creation Year:
Circa 1730
Dimensions:
Height: 28.75 in (73 cm)Width: 23.63 in (60 cm)
Medium:
Oil,Canvas
Movement & Style:
French School
Period:
1730-1739
Condition:
Gallery Location:
BELEYMAS, FR
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU1857216040132

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