Madame de Pastoret and Her Son
Jacques Louis David·1791–92
Historical Context
David's Madame de Pastoret and Her Son from 1791-92 was begun during the early Revolution, when the artist was already the dominant force in French painting and an active participant in Revolutionary politics. The unfinished state of the canvas — the hands and background barely sketched — reflects the turbulence of the period: Pastoret's husband was a moderate constitutionalist who faced danger as the Revolution radicalized, and the family's circumstances changed before David could complete the portrait. Despite its incompletion, the painting shows David's extraordinary skill in rendering individual character: the mother's protective posture and direct gaze convey both dignity and vulnerability. The work offers an unusually intimate window into the portrait practice of the Revolution's most celebrated artist.
Technical Analysis
David's portrait technique combines precise drawing with warm, naturalistic color. The mother and child are modeled with careful attention to flesh tones and the texture of clothing, while the composition's informal intimacy — the child reaching toward the viewer — softens David's typically austere style. The technique is refined without being rigid.
Provenance
In the artist’s possession until his death in 1825; inventoried on February 27, 1826, at the apartment of his son Eugène, rue Cadet no. 11, Paris; sold in David’s atelier sale, rue du Gros-Chenet no. 4, Paris, April 17, 1826, no. 16, for Fr 400, to Révile, acting on behalf of Emmanuel de Pastoret [price and buyer recorded in David 1880 and the 1897 sale catalogue]. Claude Emmanuel Joseph Pierre, marquis de Pastoret (died 1840), Château de Fleury-Meudon, Seine-et-Oise; by descent to his granddaughter, Marie de Pastoret (died 1890), who in 1835 married Hervé de Rougé, marquis du Plessis-Bellière; sold Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 10–11, 1897, no. 21, for Fr 17,900, to Chéramy [La chronique des arts 1897 and Meier-Graefe and Klossowski 1908]; Paul Alfred Chéramy, Paris; sold Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, May 5–7, 1908, no. 44 (ill.), for Fr 41,000, to Georges Petit, Paris [American Art News 1908; the buyer is given by Schnapper in Paris 1974/75]. Comtesse Joachim Murat (née Thérèse Bianchi; died 1940), Paris, by 1909 [lent by her to Paris 1909]; at her death to her sister, vicomtesse Fleury (née Renée Bianchi; died 1948); at her death to vicomte Fleury; sold to Wildenstein, New York, c. 1965 [according to telephone conversation of Joseph Baillio with Susan Wise, March 4, 1988, note in curatorial file]; sold to the Art Institute, 1967.
