This engaging portrait has been identified as the youthful, and recently wed Madame de Cromot de Fougy (born Mlle. Guillaudieu de Plessis). Her husband, Anne-David Cromot de Fougy, held the appointment of financial minister to the Count de Provence, one of the hereditary titles of the French monarchy.Appearing happy and at ease, Madame de Cromot is smartly outfitted, from the crown of roses that sits atop her coiffed and powdered hair to her silken skirt, which Vestier captured using a refined technique of glazes. The green and gold embroidered sash tied high on her waist, along with the transparent muslin bodice that delineates her bosom, are likely meant to evoke the drapery style of classical Greek sculpture. The pushed up sleeves of her blouson communicate a fresh note of informality.
Vestier was a successful society portraitist and his 18th century patrons were eager to avail themselves of this luxury. Madame Cromot’s portrait gives vivid expression to the intimacy, sophistication, and self-awareness of Parisian society at this moment.
Details
- Artist Name: Antoine Vestier (French, 1740-1824)
- Title: Portrait of Madame de Cromot de Fougy
- Date: 1786
- Medium: Oil on canvas, oval
- Dimensions: 38 x 29-3/4 in. (96.5 x 75.6 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1983.16.P
Object Information
Lastelle family, 19th century until (Baronne de L. [?Lastelle] sale, Paris, Palais Galliera, 7 April 1976, lot 32, ill., as Portrait présumé de Mademoiselle de Lastelle, to);
[Sylvia Blatas, Paris, buying for];
Norton Simon, Los Angeles, acc. N.76.13.2.P, gift 1983 to;
The Norton Simon Foundation.
[on loan]
- Music Center, Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County, 1984-03-30 to
[on loan]
- Paris, Salon de l'Académie royale, 1787 to 1787
- Salon de l'Académie royale, Explications des peintures, sculptures et gravures de Messiers de l'Académie royale, 1787, no. 144 p. 32
- Mercure de France, 1787, no. 38 p. 180
- Bllier de la Chavignerie, E.; and L. Auvray, Dictionnaire general des artistes de l'Ecole française, 1885, p. 665
- Foulon de Vaulx, A., Le Carnet historique e littéraire, 1901, p. 231, 412
- Dorbec, P., R.A.A.M, 1911, pp. 365, 371
- Gillet, L., Nomenclature des ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, architecture, gravure . . . se rapportant à l'histoire de Paris, 1911, p. 184
- Sueur, J.C., Le portraitiste Antoine Vestier, 1974, p. 48
- Passez, Anne-Marie, Antoine Vestier 1740-1824, 1989, no. 53 pp. 154-155
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 1328 p. 395
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