Offered by Franck Baptiste Paris
Portrait of the Marquise de Pleumartin by Jean-Marc Nattier, Paris 1742
Beautiful portrait of the Marquise de Pleumartin, née Anne le Laÿ de Villemaré (1695-1761).
She is represented from the front in a very simple pose and without frills. She wears a natural hairstyle and looks languorously at the spectator. Her face has slightly blushed cheeks whose delicate pink hues enhance her beautiful pearly carnations.
She wears a cape in blue satin with turquoise reflections, positioned on her shoulder and crossing her torso. It is stapled to her muslin chemise by a ribbon and on the shoulder by a pin embellished with a ceremonial stone. The preciousness of the satin cape contrasts with the simplicity of the chemise, whose transparency and cut-out lets you see the upper part of the chest and shoulders, which exudes a lot of sensuality.
Sumptuous original frame in carved oak wood, openwork and leaf gilded.
Very nice state of conservation, infirm restorations of use, enhanced signature and small gilding retouches on the frame.
Oil on canvas signed «Nattier» and «dated 1742» in the middle right for Jean Marc Nattier.
Dimensions:
Canvas: Height 82 cm; Width 65 cm
Frame: height: 104 cm; width: 89 cm
Origin:
-Collection Moïse Nissim Constantini (1806-1886)
-The after-death sale by Me Trouillet in his private mansion at 66 rue des Mathurins in Paris, on Saturday 14 August 1886. (12,000 francs)
-Collection Gabriel de Gombault de Razac (1824-1888) and by descent.
-Galerie Louis Paraf in Paris in 1928.
-Private collection Italy.
Close work:
Portrait of the Marquise de Pleumartin, signed Nattier and dated 1738, sale Christies New York, 14 April 2016 , lot 148 ($845,000)
Bibliography:
Philippe Renard «Nattier a Parisian artisan at the court» at Monelle Hayot.
Our opinion:
The splendid portrait we present is a second version of the portrait of the marquise de Pleumartin made in 1738 by Jean-Marc Nattier, which went on public sale on 14 April 2016 at Christie’s New York (Lot n°148: 845,000 dollars).
Our painting dated 1742, was thus made four years later: the marquise, who must have been very satisfied with the services of Nattier, takes the same pose and wears the same clothes with this cape of blue satin held to a chemise by a ribbon knot and a brooch adorned with a precious stone.
As indicated by Philippe Renard in his book Nattier, un artisan parisien à la cour, the beginning of the 1740s was the climax of the portrait painter’s career.
The painter then had considerable success, especially with female clientele, which he managed to embellish without departing from reality.
Unlike his colleagues, he will use a soft palette with soft greens and blues that he distributes on a bluish grey background; he also uses pink touches rather blurred for the skin tones, which gives a very soft aspect to his work, close to the pastel effect. This technique, which combines wonderfully with his allegorical representations of the aurora, sunrises or elements of nature such as springs or rivers, allows him to obtain the royal order for a portrait of the daughters of Louis XV, that he painted in 1742. (Château de Versailles)
Like these works, our portrait represents the most beautiful way of Jean Marc Nattier.
Proof of the preciousness of our painting, the painter has chosen a magnificent frame in finely openwork , carved and gilded oak wood; this model is reserved for his most beautiful compositions.
It can be found, for example, in the portrait of the Countess d'Andlau once kept in the Al Thani collection at the Lambert Hotel.
Finally, the prestigious provenance of our piece completes the exceptional pedigree of this rare work on the market: with a passage through the collection of Moïse Nissim Constantini where it was next to the famous sculpture The Child in a Cage by Jean Baptiste Pigalle, which is now housed at the Louvre Museum, and then by the Louis Paraf Gallery whose works now line the walls of some of the most prestigious museums.
