Description
Portrait of a man
signed and dated Perroneau pxt 1753
Pastel on paper mounted on canvas
In a frame allowing an obvious interaction with the spectator, Perroneau presents us here a very beautiful pastel representing the Count of Montangon.
Positioned three-quarters, he looks towards us with his hazel eyes and displays a small smile. He wears a gray jacket trimmed with gold, open to show the red button waistcoat and lace jabot; a specificity that can be found in many paintings by this artist. With such simple compositions, Perroneau accentuates the look and the liveliness of the character.
The catogan headdress is tied at the back with a knot of the same gray and the lace work is very finely done with touches of white color mixed with brown tones.
The background, as usual with Perroneau, in pastel or paint, is sober and in color gradients. By his technique of raw colors and hatched in blue, yellow and brown at the front of the portrait and blue and green supported by a white zone, at the back, Perroneau makes the light resonate in his paintings, sometimes categorized « of moving wave ».
The painting is signed and dated upper right: « Perroneau pxt 1753 »
and with a cartouche on the frame, mentioning « J.B. Perronneau – Portrait of the Count of Montangon – 1753 ».
very beautiful period frame.
Dimensions without frame: H 56 cm x W 47 cm
Dimensions with frame: H 67cm x W 58.5cm x D 9cm
Sales and Museums:
To date, the largest collection of paintings by Perroneau is surely grouped together in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Orléans, of which they also made the first retrospective of the artist in 2017.
They notably exhibited a pastel masterpiece representing his friend Aignant Thomas Desfriches, which they had acquired for €412,500.
And a second, whose touch similar to ours is only obvious, probably representing François Gorsse, which finally sold for €57,600.
At the time, the museum had no fewer than twenty-one portraits in paintings and pastels of the artist, whose collection they have since expanded.
However, many other museums have the chance to exhibit works by this great portraitist today.
The Louvre Museum, for example, has several paintings.
Among them: the portrait of Laurent Cars, where we can see a touch very similar to that of our portrait.
As well as the portrait of the engraver Gabriel Huquier whose characteristic touch seems just as familiar to us.
And the portrait of Pierre Bouguer
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York owns, among other things, the very beautiful portrait of Olivier Journu,
dated and signed in the same place as ours, and therefore the pictorial touch leaves no doubt as to the resemblance to ours.
The National Gallery of Art in Washington exhibits a portrait of a man
And the Art Institute of Chicago, that of Jean Baptiste Antoine Le Moyne young
Also, we find in his oils, the same distinctive touch of a pastel painting.
The Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg exhibits the oil painting of the artist’s brother.
The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa has a portrait of a man in a red jacket, which appears to be pastel, although it is painted in oil.
And many other paintings travel the world.
Even today, Perronneau’s works are prized and sought after.
In 2017, for example, another painting by him representing a gentleman sold for no less than 86,500 euros.