Master Works on Paper from Five Centuries
Master Works on Paper from Five Centuries
The Art of Pastel: A Swiss Private Collection
Jean-Baptiste Perronneau
Portrait of the painter Jacques-Charles Dutillieu (1718-1777)
Auction Closed
January 25, 04:44 PM GMT
Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
The Art of Pastel: A Swiss Private Collection
Jean-Baptiste Perronneau
Paris 1715 - 1783 Amsterdam
Portrait of the painter Jacques-Charles Dutillieu (1718-1777)
Pastel;
signed, lower right: Perronneau pinx
710 by 590 mm; 28 by 23 ¼ in.
Jacques Doucet, 1904,
his sale, Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, 5 June 1912, lot 88 (28 100 F);
Lasquin Collection, Paris;
Georges Dormeuil (1856-1939), 1927, Collection G.D., no. 150-Jacques-Charles Dutillieu;
Private Collection, Paris
sale, Monaco, Sotheby's, 25 June 1984, lot 3369;
with Galerie Cailleux,
where acquired by Jacques-Louis Isoz
Bréghot du Lut, Livre de Raison de Jacques-Charles Dutillieu, Lyon 1886, reproduced, frontispiece;
M. Tourneux, Perronneau, Paris 1903, pp. 31 and 32;
M. Tourneux, La Collection Jacques Doucet in Les Arts, 1904, no. 36, pp. 18-21, reproduced p. 22;
Brière, P. Vitry, M. Tourneux & H. Stein, “Notes critiques sur les oeuvres...à l’Exposition des Cent pastels...”, Bulletin de la Société de l’histoire de l’art français, 1908, p.233;
L. de Fourcaud, Le Pastel, etc. in La Revue de l'Art, 1908, vol. XXIX, pp. 284, 287 and 292;
J.Guiffrey, “L’exposition des cent pastels”, Monatshefte für Kunstwissenschaft, I/2, 1908, p. 648;
L. Vaillat & P. Ratouis de Limay, Jean Baptiste Perroneau sa vie et son oeuvre, Paris 1909, no. 75, pl. 69;
L. Vaillat & P. Ratouis de Limay, Jean Baptiste Perroneau sa vie et son oeuvre, Paris 1923, pp. 70, 198, 219 / different in Monaco catalogue: pp. 33, 97 and 142, cat. no. 75 (??);
Henri d’Hennezel, “Quelques figures de dessinateurs lyonnais du XVIIIe siècle”, La Soierie de Lyon: organe du Syndicat des fabricants de soieries de Lyon, XIII, 1930, p. 288 n.r;
L. Ellis Miller, “Dressing down in eighteenth century Lyon” Costume, 29, 1995, fig.2;
L. Ellis Miller “Manufacturers and the man: a reassessment of the place of Jacques-Charles Dutillieu in the silk industry of eighteenth-century Lyon”, Textile history, XXIX/1, 1998, fig. 4;
N. Jeffares, Dictionary of pastellists, London 2006, p. 402, reproduced / online edition, no. J.582.1313/ online essay: Perronneau’s trip to Lyon in 1759, fig. 5
D. d' Arnoult, Jean-Baptiste Perronneau, ca. 1715–1783. Un portraitiste dans l’Europe des Lumières, Paris, 2014, no. 191 Pa, reproduced p. 149;
This fine and elegant pastel of a gentleman in an orange coat, holding his hat under his arm, is a portrait of the flower painter and silk designer, Jacques-Charles Dutillieu (1718-1782). Trained by his father, a decorative artist, in Paris, he eventually settled in Lyon in 1742 and by 1752 he was ‘maitre et marchand fabricant’ in the silk-weaving guild.
Perronneau visited Lyon in 1759, but very little is known about this trip in comparison to his visits to Bordeaux. Neil Jeffares notes that it was most likely Dutillieu who invited Perroneau to visit to Lyon; the flower painter had many artistic connections that he retained from his time residing in Paris.1 During his visit to Lyon, Perronneau executed the present portrait and its pendant, Madame Benoite Dutillieu, along with portraits of Madame Dutillieu’s sister, Madeleine and her husband, Gabriel Eymard, who for some time languished under the erroneous identification of Charles Pinot Duclos (for more information on the false identification and a discussion of the four pastels see Neil Jeffares’ essay, ‘Perronneau’s trip to Lyon in 1759'; see Literature).
Perronneau, in a letter dated 1759, expressed his gratitude to Monsieur Dutillieu for his hospitality during his visit to Lyon adding, ‘Ditte bien des choses pour moy, a Monsieur hémard; je ne puis assé le remercies des marques d’amitiés qu’il m’a témoigne; j’assure aussi de mes respects Madame hémard.”2 Perronneau, on his return to Lyon in 1773, executed a portrait drawing, in profile, of Monsieur Duttilieu, now lost, but known through an engraving made by a descendent, Maurice Willermoz.3
Such was his success in the silk weaving business, Jacques-Charles Dutillieu was able to retire comfortably in 1767. This pastel presents the sitter in a drawn oval, the original corners still visible (they were often painted out in the 19th Century to enhance the commerciality of the portrait). The vibrant hue of the orange coat and the delicate rendering of the lace cravat demonstrate Perroneau’s expertise in colour combinations. His face is confident but not arrogant and the half smiling mouth suggests a man with a pleasing disposition and kind demeanour.
1. N. Jeffares, Perronneau's trip to Lyon in 1759, online essay in 'Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800', online edition, p. 2
2. N. Jeffares, online essay, op.cit., p. 3
3. N. Jeffares, online essay, op.cit., p. 4, fig. 6