This signed portrait reinterprets a well-known pastel by Maurice-Quentin de La Tour of the important French sculptor Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne the younger (1704-1778). The sculptor, seen toward the end of his life, appears in working garb. His close-cropped grey hair, frank, observant stare, and bemused smile all demonstrate the closeness of the young painter to the elder sculptor. The work also speaks to Vigée-LeBrun's interest in naturalistic portraiture (as opposed to her more formal, commissioned portraits), and-in the handling of the paint as well as her source image-her debt to pastel painting, her original medium.
Credit: Bequest of Dr. Paul J. Vignos, Jr.
1774
Oil on canvas
37.4 x 44.1cm
2011.49
Image and text: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2024
Where you'll find this
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Permanent collection