Nicolas De Largillierre

Nicolas de Largillierre (Paris 1656-1746) Portrait of a Gentleman, three-quarter length oil on canvas 25½ x 20¾ in. (64.7 x 52.7 cm.) indistinctly inscribed on base of pillar Lariboisière Collection. with Cailleux, Paris. with Kurt E. Schon, Ltd., New Orleans, 1984. Private Collection, Baton Rouge; New Orleans Auction Galleries, 4-5 October 2008, lot 1068 ($26,400). B. Lorsky, Peintures et Sculptures françaises du Châteaux d'Azay le Ferron, 1958, p. 45. Paris, Palais de Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Nicolas de Largillière, 1928, no. 49; Berne, Le 17 siècle dans L'Art Français, 1959, no. 39, pl. 24, illustrated. Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Portraits Français de Largillière à Manet, 1960, no. 29. Another portrait of this sitter depicted as a magistrate is in the collection of the Châteaux d'Azay le Ferron in the Loire Valley.

LOT 52 PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION NICOLAS DE LARGILLIÈRRE PARIS 1656 - 1746 PORTRAIT OF A MAN inscribed in an old hand on the reverse: Peint par N. de Largillierre / 1691 (on a piece of paper on the lined canvas, possibly a transcription of the original signature) oil on canvas 25 1/2 by 21 in.; 64.8 by 53.4 cm.

Nicolas de Largilliere (1656-1746) "Madame la Duchesse de Modene" oil on canvas Canvas relined and varnished at earlier date. Puncture and paint loss approximately the size of a pencil eraser above the Duchess' right arm. Inscription in upper left reads "Peint Par SAS Madame La Duchesse de Modene A Regio En 1733." Charlotte Aglae d'Orleans was the Duchess of Modena. In this canvas the Duchess sits in a chair joined by one of her children holding a painter's palette while the image of her husband looks on from a painted canvas resting on an easel behind them. Charlotte Aglae d'Orleans (1700-1761) had a tumultuous and colorful life. She was the daughter of Francoise Marie de Bourbon and Philippe d'Orleans, who served as the Regent of France from 1715-1723. The subject of her marriage caused a great deal of controversy. At the age of fourteen Charlotte's family wanted her to marry Louis Armand de Bourbon but King Louis XIV did not approve. Two years later her mother pressured her to marry her cousin Louis Auguste de Bourbon but Charlotte refused and was sent away to live with her grandmother. Yet another cousin proposed but her parents refused to consider the marriage. At the age of 18 Charlotte began an affair with the Duke of Richelieu, Louis Francois Armand du Plessis. This association would endure on and off for decades and provided Charlotte with the opportunity to circumvent the efforts of her scheming family. Charlotte's cousin Louise Anne de Bourbon was simultaneously having an affair with the Duke of Richelieu which prompted a longstanding feud between the two cousins. In 1719 Richelieu was arrested and jailed for his role in the Cellamare Conspiracy. Charlotte prevailed upon her father to pardon him in his capacity as Regent, which he agreed to do provided she married the suitor of his choice: Francesco Maria d'Este, the future Duke of Modena. The pair were married in 1720 and Charlotte moved to Italy. She was very unhappy there and her frequent efforts to return to France were thwarted by the Modena court's Grand Master of Ceremonies, who threw out her outgoing mail and withheld delivery of letters from her father. In 1727 her former lover Richelieu visited her in Italy and they resumed their relationship. The resulting scandal allowed Charlotte to briefly return to France. Five years later in 1733, both Charlotte and her husband relocated to France. This portrait is dated 1733 in the inscription and was likely painted soon after Charlotte's return. She moved back to Italy in 1739 but attempted to go back to the safety of Paris during the War of Austrian Succession. Her former lover Richelieu processed the negotiations that allowed her return, and Charlotte stayed in France for nearly all the rest of her life. Nicolas de Largilliere was a prominent French portrait painter whose subjects included members of the royal family. Sight image 15" H x 20" W, framed. Estimate $ 30,000-40,000

Nicolas de Largillierre (Paris 1656-1746) Portrait of Gaspard Gédéon Pétau, Seigneur de Maulette, half-length, in an embroidered blue waistcoat and a red velvet cape oil on canvas 35¾ x 28 7/8 in. (90.8 x 73.3 cm.) Collection of the Pétau de Maulette family, Montfort-l'Amaury, until c. 1922. Private collection, Paris. Anonymous sale; Paris, Galerie Charpentier, 24 March 1955, lot 29. Jean Davray, Paris; (+), Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 14-15 April 1986, lot 53. Paris, Musée Carnavalet, Chefs-d'oeuvre des collections parisiennes, November-December 1950, no. 35, pl. XI. Gaspard Gédéon Pétau de Maulette (1696-1746) was a knight and lord of De Maulette. According to the catalogue for the exhibition held at the Musée Carnavalet, Paris, in 1950, a photograph of the painting identifying the sitter as Monsieur Pétau de Maulette is included in Georges Sortais' 'Fonds Largilliere' in the Cabinet des Estampes of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. A pendant portrait of Madame Pétau, last recorded in the Capdevielle collection, was exhibited at the Largillierre retrospective held at the Petit Palais, Paris, May-June 1928, no. 119. Both portraits were owned by the Pétau de Maulette family until 1922.

Nicolas de Largillière (Paris 1656-1746) A study sheet with hands, black, red and white chalk, on paper, a half figure portrait of a man in black chalk on the reverse , 15x 33.4 cm, mounted, unframed, (Sch) Provenance: European private collection. We are grateful to Dominique Breme (Musée de l'Ile-de-France, Sceaux), who confirmed the attribtion of the present drawing to Nicolas de Largillière on the basis of the original. Specialist: Mag. Astrid Schierz