SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
The 18th-century French painter and pastellist Maurice-Quentin de La Tour devotes most of his activity to pastel portraiture. Born and died in Saint-Quentin, in 1704 and 1788, he pursues a career marked by the regular presentation of portraits at the Paris Salon.
After a brief stay in England in 1725, he returns to Paris in 1727. On 25 May 1737, he is approved by the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. That same year, at the Salon, he presents, among other works, the portrait of Madame Boucher and L’Auteur qui rit, ou Autoportrait riant, now held at the Musée du Louvre. Portraits exhibited subsequently include those of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in 1753; the marquise de Pompadour, in 1755; the singer Marie Fel, in 1757; and the duc de Berry, in 1762. According to the biographical source, he exhibits for the last time in 1773.
The preparation of his portraits includes studies of the head, which allow him to determine the framing and lighting, and to capture features such as expression, the gaze and the mouth. Mademoiselle Sallé, dated 1741, is a pastel on paper held at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon. That same year, the portrait of Gabriel Bernard de Rieux is executed in pastel and gouache on grey-blue paper mounted on canvas; it is held at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Retiring to Saint-Quentin in 1784, he establishes a free drawing school there and supports charitable works for women in childbirth as well as for elderly or infirm artisans.
This profile brings together identity references for Maurice Quentin de La Tour and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
Genève Enchères
References include catalogue entries and available results; they do not all represent completed sales.
These references are shown separately because of their attribution or lot composition. Each record states the reason.
Pastel
D’après Maurice Quentin de la Tour — Portrait de Louis XV d’après le portrait présenté au Salon de 1745
pastel
D’après
Date to be documented
After
Published result : 6500 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 2000–3000
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Profile updated :
Recently enriched profiles
Painter, lithographer and illustrator, Georges-Charles Laporte developed a body of work in which seascape painting sits alongside a substantial body of illustration, notably for text…
67 auction referencesThe French painter, illustrator and lithographer André Hambourg brought together painting, printmaking and the printed image throughout his career. Born and died in Paris, he first s…
5 auction referencesThe Spanish painter and graphic artist Juan Genovés Candel—also known in Catalan as Joan Genovés i Candel—developed a body of work shaped by the repressive context of the Franco dict…
2 auction references