Portrait of an Artist

c. 1735

French

Professional women artists were rare in the 1730s. The Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, which controlled artistic education and competitive art exhibitions called salons, was closed to women. Instead, artistic careers were traditionally limited to those born into families of artists, who could be trained by a male relative. The subject of this portrait probably belonged to such a clan. The presentation here emphasizes the sitter’s luxurious attire, including a swansdown scarf and a damask morning gown, as well as her vocation: she sits confidently before her easel, her palette in hand.

Status: On View, Gallery 216
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist: French School
Title: Portrait of an Artist
Place: France (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1725–1740
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 101.7 × 82 cm (40 × 32 5/16 in.); Framed: 126.3 × 106.9 × 10.2 cm (49 11/16 × 42 1/16 × 4 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Mrs. Harold T. Martin in honor of Patrice Marandel
Reference Number: 1981.66
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/61741/manifest.json

G[ustave] Vattier, Une Famille d’artistes: Les Dumont, 1660–1884, Paris, 1890, p. 10 n. 1.
Le comte Arnauld Doria, Louis Tocqué, Paris, 1929, p. 100, no. 60.
Pierre Berthelot and G. Brunon-Guardia, “Notes from Paris,” Antiquarian 17, 2 (August 1931), p. 52 (ill.).
S[amuel] Rocheblave, French Painting in the XVIIIth Century, tr. by George Frederic Lees, Paris [1937], pl. 28 (ill. in error as Aved).
Susan Wise in Susan Wise and Malcolm Warner, French and British Paintings from 1600 to 1800 in The Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Collection (Chicago, 1996), pp. 68-70, ill.

Copenhagen, Palais de Charlottenborg, Exposition de l’art français au XVIIIe siècle, 1935, no. 234, as Carle Vanloo, Anne Coypel peignant.
New York, Parke-Bernet , French and English Art Treasures of the XVIII Century, 1942, no. 61, as Carle Vanloo, Anne Coypel.
Paris, Galerie Heim, Le Choix de l’amateur, 1975: Sélection de peintures et sculptures du XVe au XIXe siècle, 1975, no. 31, as Carle Vanloo.

By descent in the Dumont family of artists; Augustin Alexandre Dumont (1801-1884); at his death to Mme Leo Ginain, his first wife; by descent to her son-in-law, Dr. E. Audard, Paris [Doria 1929; letter of December 11, 1981, from Daniel Wildenstein to Susan Wise in curatorial file, and Copenhagen, 1935]; sold by Audard to Wildenstein, 1925 [see Wildenstein letter cited above]; Wildenstein, Paris, to at least 1935 [Wildenstein lent the painting to Copenhagen 1935]. Virginia M. (Mrs. Moritz) Rosenthal (died 1945), New York, by 1942; sold Parke-Bernet, New York, April 13–14, 1945, no. 202 (ill.), as Carle Vanloo, Anne Coypel, for $7, 500 [Rosenthal lent the painting to New York 1942; the price in 1945 is recorded in an annotated sale catalogue at the Art Institute]. Sold Christie’s, London, June 29, 1973, no. 14 (ill.), as Carle Vanloo, Portrait of a Lady Artist Said to Be Madame Coypel, to LeJeune [according to Christie’s price list]. Sold Christie’s London, May 3, 1974, no. 71, as Carle Vanloo, Portrait of a Lady Artist Said to Be Madame Coypel, to Anton [according to Christie’s price list]. Sold Palais Galliera, Paris, June 7, 1974, no. C (ill.), as Carle Vanloo. Galerie Heim, Paris, by 1975 [Paris, 1975]; sold to the Art Institute, 1981.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

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