The Book, Cat, & Cat Book Lovers Almanac

of historical trivia regarding books, cats, and other animals. Actually this blog has evolved so that it is described better as a blog about cats in history and culture. And we take as a theme the advice of Aldous Huxley: If you want to be a writer, get some cats. Don't forget to see the archived articles linked at the bottom of the page.

December 14, 2017

December 14, 1727

About François-Hubert Drouais (December 14, 1727 to October 21, 1775) we read that he:

".... belonged to a dynasty of French painters that included his father, Hubert Drouais (1699-1767), and his son, Jean Germain (1763-1788). François-Hubert was born in Paris....During his relatively short career, he established himself as one of the leading portrait painters of the age of Louis XV. He is presumed to have studied at various times with Donat Nonotte (1708-1785), Carle Van Loo (1705-1765), Charles Joseph Natoire (1700-1777), and François Boucher (1703-1770). He mastered the rules governing portrait painting in the ultra-refined society of mid-eighteenth-century Paris and Versailles.

"By the late 1750s, when he presented his candidacy for membership in the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, he had become the chief rival of Jean- Marc Nattier (1685-1766), whom he would eventually succeed as portraitist to the royal family, Louis XV's last two official mistresses, and members of the nobility and the high-ranking bourgeoisie. Unlike Nattier, however, he made only infrequent use of the mythological and allegorical trappings of history painting. Graceful poses, sumptuous costumes, richly decorated interiors, or lush garden settings are distinctive features of his best works, and a brilliant technique enhances their allure.

"It became very fashionable in the Paris of the late 1750s and the 1760s to have one's portrait painted by François-Hubert Drouais. His art epitomizes the rococo at the moment of its decline. The full-length portrait of Madame de Pompadour (1721-1764) (London, National Gallery), which he finished in 1764 after the sitter's death, is a virtuoso performance of extraordinary elegance. He was also perfectly capable of capturing the inner life of his subjects. The two diploma pieces he presented to the Académie on his election in 1758--portraits of the sculptors Edme Bouchardon and Guillaume Coustou (Musée des Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon), his handsome likeness of his wife Anne Marie Françoise Doré (Paris, Musée du Louvre) of c. 1758, and his bust-length portrait of Louis XV (Versailles) of 1773--are all refreshingly sober images. Drouais' success at court continued after Louis XVI's accession to the throne in 1774, but he died shortly thereafter on October 21, 1775, at the age of forty-eight. He had been a regular exhibitor at the Salon, where his works were judged, often harshly, by such critics as Denis Diderot (1713-1784).

"Drouais' son, Jean Germain, became Jacques Louis David's (1748-1825) most promising pupil and assisted the master in the execution of The Oath of the Horatii (Paris, Musée du Louvre). Unfortunately, the young prodigy died prematurely in Rome."

We don't know the name of this subject, but it speaks to the genius of this artist.

"A Girl with a Cat" is dated to 1767. I don't know the context where cat tweaking is acceptable. There may be some allusions which are not apparent to us now.










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