Portrait of François Tronchin with his Rembrandt painting “Young Woman in Bed”

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Portrait of François Tronchin with his Rembrandt painting “Young Woman in Bed” (Jean-Étienne Liotard)
Portrait of François Tronchin with his Rembrandt painting “Young Woman in Bed”
Jean-Étienne Liotard , 1757
Pastel painting on vellum
38.5 x 46.3 cm
Cleveland Museum of Art , Cleveland , Ohio , USA

The portrait of François Tronchin with his Rembrandt painting “Young Woman in Bed” is a pastel painting by the Geneva painter Jean-Étienne Liotard from 1757. The picture shows the Geneva lawyer, writer, art collector and patron François Tronchin (1704–1798) with his painting Young Woman in Bed by the Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn . It is executed in landscape format on vellum and is in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art .

description

Young Woman in Bed , Rembrandt van Rijn , around 1647, oil on canvas, 81.1 × 67.8 cm, Scottish National Gallery , Edinburgh , Scotland

The picture shows a middle-aged man with a gray or powdered allonge wig . He wears black trousers and a black tappert over a white shirt with a frilled collar and cuffs. A light-colored cloth protrudes from the right pocket of his tapper. The man is sitting at a small wooden table with a stamped foot and a tightly wound column. The partially visible back of his chair is woven and surrounded by a frame decorated with acanthus work . On the table are papers, apparently construction drawings and notes, a book, compasses and other drawing utensils.

In the right middle distance is the unframed painting Young Woman in Bed by Rembrandt van Rijn on a three-legged easel . The man has directed his gaze at the painting, his left hand, which is open upwards, is stretched forwards and seen by the viewer under the painting. With the slightly raised index finger of his right hand held in front of his chest, the man points to the picture as if he were about to point out something. Rembrandt's painting is positioned as if the depicted woman was looking at the viewer.

The background of the pastel painting is formed by blue-gray walls and a blue-gray curtain, apparently in front of a window, as well as wood paneling on the walls and on the left edge of the picture a picture frame, which is only partially visible, with an only hinted at painting.

At the bottom right is the signature par JE Liotard / 1757 in black . Verso next to a cartouche with the coat of arms of the Tronchin family in red TH / 51 is noted.

The picture has the format 38.5 × 46.3 cm and is done with pastel paint on vellum . It is said to be perfectly preserved.

background

Self-portrait in Turkish costume , Jean-Étienne Liotard, ca.1750, pastel on vellum, 79 × 62.5 cm, Kunst Museum Winterthur

Jean-Étienne Liotard was a Geneva painter of the 18th century who led an unsteady life with numerous journeys and changing places of residence until 1758. His outward appearance with a long beard and oriental clothing identified him as an eccentric who violated contemporary conventions. He was also called the Turkish painter because of his preferred motifs and appearance after a four-year stay in Turkey . After his wedding in 1756 he settled back in his native Geneva. As an excellent portrait painter, he preferred pastel painting , but he also made miniatures using other techniques such as enamel . After François Tronchin's portrait, Liotard painted at least six pastel portraits of members of the Tronchin family within a few years.

The Les Délices country house , Voltaire's residence from 1755 to 1760, Tronchins domicile from 1765
Draft study for the portrait of François Tronchin in his library, Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours, 1796, oil on canvas, 46.4 × 38.5 cm, Musée d'art et d'histoire, Geneva Heliogravure from 1895 after the portrait of François Tronchin in his library, Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours, 1796
Draft study for the portrait of François Tronchin in his library , Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours , 1796, oil on canvas, 46.4 × 38.5 cm, Musée d'art et d'histoire , Geneva
Heliogravure from 1895 after the portrait of François Tronchin in his library , Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours , 1796

The François Tronchin portrayed with his painting was born on October 23, 1704 in Geneva as the son of the nobleman Antoine Tronchin (1664–1730) and Susanne Perret (1677–1752). The Tronchin family was one of the most important Geneva families of the 18th century. The medic Théodore Tronchin was a cousin of François Tronchins. Tronchin met the French philosopher Voltaire in his youth, when he lived temporarily in Paris . Tronchin first became a banker, worked as a writer and was elected to the Small Council of the City of Geneva in 1738 . In 1740 Tronchin began building up his first collection of paintings. The relationship between the painter Liotard and the art collector and patron Tronchin was not just business. Tronchin was the godfather of Liotard's second daughter Marianne in 1767. He was a staunch advocate of Voltaire when he applied for permission to stay in the city republic of Geneva in 1755. From 1765 Tronchin lived in the Les Délices house, previously inhabited by Voltaire , which is now the Musée Voltaire . As an outstanding art connoisseur, Tronchin examined pictures from the Crozat collection intended for Catherine II for the French encyclopedist and art agent Denis Diderot and confirmed their authenticity. Tronchin's first collection of around 95 paintings was also sold to Catherine II in 1770, but he immediately began to build a new collection, which eventually comprised more than 120 works by mostly Dutch and Flemish masters. Tronchin died in Geneva on February 7, 1798.

Rembrandt's painting, the most valuable picture in François Tronchin's collection, was thanks to the doctor Théodore Tronchin, according to the English art dealer William Buchanan (1777–1864), by Viktor Amadeus I of Savoy-Carignan (1690–1741), Prince of Carignan given for the successful inoculation of the Sardinian royal family. The donation must have been made in 1741 or earlier, the exact date and the circumstances under which the painting came into the possession of Théodore's cousin François are unknown. Around 1765 the painting passed into the possession of the Venetian Conte Vitturi, according to Buchanan in exchange for paintings by Italian masters. The painting is no longer listed in the printed catalog of the Tronchins Collection from 1765, but the manuscript of the catalog still identifies it as no.25. The motif of his own painting as an attribute of the art lover appears in another portrait of Tronchins, which he had painted by Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours in 1796 . The oil painting in the format 111.5 × 84.5 cm shows a piece of a painting on the left edge, which is probably the representation of a hermit after Gerard Dou . The portrait is owned by the Société des Arts de Genève.

  • Jean-Étienne Liotard's portraits of the Tronchin family

  • Portrait of Madame François Tronchin , 1758, pastel painting on vellum, 68 × 55 cm, Musée d'art et d'histoire , Geneva

  • Portrait of Madame Jean Tronchin (nee Anne Molènes) , 1758, pastel painting on vellum, 63.6 × 50.6 cm, Louvre , Paris, France

  • Portrait of Marthe Marie Tronchin , c. 1758, pastel painting on vellum, 61 × 47 cm, The Art Institute of Chicago , Illinois, USA

  • Portrait of Jean Tronchin , 1759, pastel painting on vellum, 65 × 52 cm, private collection

  • Portrait of Théodore Tronchin , approx. 1763, graphite, black and red chalk, blue watercolor on paper, 24.2 × 18.5 cm, private collection

Art historical classification

The composition and execution of the portrait of Tronchin is unique in the work of Liotard, who as a portrait painter mostly produced conventional works in the taste of the time. However, as an established artist, Liotard has worked very hard to achieve naturalistic effects and create trompe-l'œils . He saw himself as the best pastel painter of his time and alluded in his own publication to having surpassed even the Greek painter Zeuxis of Herakleia with a grape still life. Zeuxis was only able to deceive birds, while he succeeded in deceiving people with his grapes. Liotard described the portrait of Tronchins and the portrait of his wife painted the following year as two of his best works. This assessment meets with approval from experts.

Rembrandt's incomplete signature on the copy and on the original Rembrandt's incomplete signature on the copy and on the original
Rembrandt's incomplete signature on the copy and on the original

The Rembrandt painting was reproduced with remarkable attention to detail by Liotard. He even copied Rembrandt's signature. In his painting, he had implemented the original idea of ​​making the last three letters of his name disappear in a fold of the bedclothes, to make the signature part of the picture motif. Liotard followed the example even in this detail. It was not until 1747 that the Leipzig art scholar Johann Friedrich Christ published a directory of the monograms by important painters and engravers. His work was published in the French translation as Dictionnaire des monogrammes in 1750 and thus found wider circulation. It was considered a sign of connoisseurship to deal intensively with the signature of a painting or print. Consequently, the signature of his painting had to be recognizable as proof of authenticity on Liotard's portrait.

The appreciation of the master's hand, which developed in the 18th century, was a development that had a lasting impact on collectors and the art market. In Rembrandt's time, the conception of a work was considered important, a composition devised by Rembrandt and executed by a student was signed by Rembrandt and considered authentic. Many guilds of the 16th and 17th centuries made this mandatory, and forbade apprentices and workshop employees to sign their work. This practice makes it difficult to ascribe works to masters or students to this day.

Associated Works

Heliogravure, 1895

There is a draft of Liotard in red chalk and black chalk on paper in the format 25.8 × 19.5 cm. The portrait of Liotard was published as an engraving and in 1895 as a heliogravure in Liotard's biography .

Provenance

The portrait remained in his possession even after François Tronchin's first collection of paintings was sold in 1770. After his death in 1798, it was passed on to generations within the family: Jean-Louis-Robert Tronchin (1763-1840), Armand Henri Tronchin (1794-1865), Louis-Rémy-Nosky Tronchin (1825-1873), Henry Tronchin (1853-1891), Robert Tronchin (1883-1938) and Christiane Tronchin, Marquise de Hillerin (1916-1947). Christiane Tronchin sold the family estate Bessinge in Cologny with the rest of the painting collection, including the portrait of François Tronchin, to Xavier Givaudan in 1938 . He bequeathed it to André Givaudan in 1966. The Parisian Léon Givaudan was the last private owner since 1973, he sold the picture to the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1978 .

Exhibitions (chronological)

  • Société des Arts, Classe des Beaux-Arts, Geneva. Exhibition exposure Liotard , 1886, catalog no. 36.
  • Musée d'art et d'histoire , Geneva. Exhibition exposure Liotard , May 1 to May 31 1925th
  • Musee de l'Orangerie , Paris, France. Exposition Liotard-Füssli , April to June 1948, catalog no. 14th
  • Cleveland Museum of Art , Ohio, USA. Exhibition Year in Review: 1978 , February 13 to March 18, 1979.
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, USA. Exhibition Portraiture: The Image of the Individual , November 22, 1983 to January 22, 1984.
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, USA. Exhibition Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art , August 27 to October 17, 2000.
  • Rath Museum , Geneva, Switzerland. Exhibition Pierre-Louis De la Rive, ou la belle nature: vie et œuvre peint (1753–1817) , 7 February to 5 May 2002.
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, USA. Treasures on Paper from the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art exhibition , March 9 to June 8, 2014.

Web links

Commons : Rembrandt's Young Woman in Bed  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Marcel Roethlisberger and Renée Loche: Liotard. Catalog, sources and correspondance . 2 volumes. Davaco, Doornspijk 2008, ISBN 90-70288-08-7 , catalog no . 349, pp. 503-507, Figs. 499-502a.
  2. ↑ Louis GIELLY: La biography de Jean-Etienne Liotard, écrite par son fils . In: Genava. Revue d'histoire de l'art et d'archéologie 1933, Volume 11, pp. 190-200, doi: 10.5169 / seals-728036 .
  3. ↑ Jean-Étienne Liotard. Portrait of Jean Tronchin , Sotheby's London website, online catalog for auction on July 3, 2013, lot 70, accessed on October 20, 2019.
  4. ↑ Musée d'art et d'histoire (ed.): De Genève à l'Ermitage. Les collections de François Tronchin. Rath Museum, 21 June – 15 September 1974 . Musée Rath, Genève 1974, pp. VII – XIV, digitizedhttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fdoc.rero.ch%2Frecord%2F255159%2Ffiles%2FBAA_E_1974_Gen_ve.pdf~GB%3D~IA%3D~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3D~ double-sided% 3D ~ LT% 3D ~ PUR% 3D .
  5. ↑ Marcel Roethlisberger: Les collections de Jean-Etienne Liotard . In: Journal for Swiss Archeology and Art History 2002, Volume 59, pp. 385–406, doi: 10.5169 / seals-169667 .
  6. ↑ Rembrandt. A Woman in bed, gedateerd 164 [7 ] on the website of the RKD - Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis , accessed on October 20, 2019.
  7. ↑ Musée d'art et d'histoire (ed.): De Genève à l'Ermitage , Werk 5 François Tronchin 1796 , p. 186.
  8. ^ William Buchanan: Memoirs of painting. With a chronological history of the importation of pictures by the great masters into England since the French Revolution , 2 volumes, Volume 1http: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Dmemoirsofpaintin01buchiala~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3D331~ double-sided%3D~LT%3DBand%201~PUR%3D and Volume 2http: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Dmemoirsofpaintin02buchiala~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3D~doppelseiten%3D~LT%3DBand%202~PUR%3D , here Volume 1, p. 331.
  9. ↑ a b Musée d'art et d'histoire (ed.): De Genève à l'Ermitage , work 347 Portrait de François Tronchin 1757 , pp. 175–176.
  10. ^ Charlotte Guichard: Signatures, Authorship and Autographie in Eighteenth-Century French Painting . In: Art History 2018, Volume 41, No. 2, pp. 266–291, doi: 10.1111 / 1467-8365.12328 .
  11. ^ Stichting Foundation Rembrandt Research Project (ed.): A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings. VI. Rembrandt's Paintings Revisited. A Complete Survey. Springer Science + Business Media, Dordrecht 2015, ISBN 978-94-017-9173-1 , work no. 194, pp. 584-586.
  12. ^ Stichting Foundation Rembrandt Research Project (ed.): A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings. VI., Pp. 55-60.
  13. ↑ Jean-Daniel Candaux: Le petit monde de genevois Voltaire . In: Jean Starobinski and Erica Deuber-Pauli: Voltaire chez lui. Genève et Ferney . Skira, Geneva 1994, ISBN 2-605-00273-X , pp. 139–158, illus . P. 142.
  14. ^ Henry Tronchin: Conseiller François Tronchin et ses amis Voltaire, Diderot, Grimm etc. d'après des documents inédits . E. Plon, Nourrit & Cie., Paris 1895.
  15. ^ Jean-Etienne Liotard. Portrait of the art collector François Tronchin (1704–1798) with his Rembrandt painting, 1757 gedateerd on the website of the RKD - Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis , accessed on October 20, 2019.
  16. ^ François Tronchin , online catalog on the Cleveland Museum of Art website , accessed October 20, 2019.