Portrait of Anne Louis Goislard de Montsabert, Comte de Richbourg-le-Toureil
Historical Context
Nicolas de Largillière painted this portrait of Anne Louis Goislard de Montsabert, Comte de Richbourg-le-Toureil, in 1734, one of his late works from a career spanning over fifty years as France's leading portrait painter of the bourgeoisie and nobility. Largillière had trained in Antwerp under the influence of Rubens and Van Dyck before establishing himself in Paris, where his rich, painterly style made him the preferred portraitist of the wealthy classes. He painted over 1,500 portraits during his career.
Technical Analysis
Largillière's mature technique combines Flemish richness of color with French elegance, rendering fabrics and textures with sensuous virtuosity. The warm palette and fluid brushwork in the costume contrast with the careful modeling of the face, demonstrating his lifelong mastery of the portrait genre.
Provenance
Anne Louis Goislard de Montsabert and the Montsabert family; Possibly Comte André de Ganay [1863-1912], Paris1; Charles Fairfax Murray [1849 – 1919], London, sold to Thomas Agnew & Sons; (Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, sold to Calouste S. Gulbenkian)1; Calouste S. Gulbenkian [1869 –1955], sold to Thomas Agnew & Sons; (Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, sold to Charles Fairfax Murray); Charles Fairfax Murray [1849 – 1919], London; (Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, Fairfax Murray sale, June 15, 1914, no. 24, sold to Bousquet); Bousquet 1; Galerie Cailleux, Paris, sold to the Detroit Institute of Arts with funds provided by Ernest Kanzler 1; Ernest Kanzler [1892-1967], Detroit, MI 1; The estate of Ernest Kanzler and Rosemarie Kanzler, sold to Eugene V. Thaw; (Eugene V. Thaw, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)1; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
_MET_DP112060.jpg&width=600)
