François-Bruno DESHAYS de COLLEVILLE Rouen, 1732 - 1815 Presumed portrait of Henriette Caudron, wife of the artist Oil on canvas (original canvas and stretcher), oval shape An inscription 'Fcit Deshays uxore Pictor Regis 1768' on the left above the mask appeared on the painting at the 1936 sale. This inscription seems to have been covered up. Presumed portrait of Henriette Caudron, the wife of the artist, oil on canvas (original canvas and frame), F. B. Deshays de Colleville 54 x 46 cm (21,26 x 18,11 in.) Provenance: Sale of the M. D... collection, first part, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, Mes Ader et Boisgirard, 14 May 1936, no. 128, (as 'Portrait de Madame Deshays' by Jean-Baptiste Deshays); A. J. Seligman, 1937; Collection of Mr Jean Fraissinet since at least the 1950s; Then by descent ; Private collection, Provence Bibliography: Marc Sandoz, 'Jean-Baptiste Deshays 1729-1765', Paris, 1977, p. 130, no. ZZ11 (work wrongly attributed) Alastair Laing, notice "François-Bruno Deshays" in 'Saur Allgemeines Künstler Lexikon', vol. 26, Munich-Leipzig, 2000, p. 361 (the year given for the sale is wrong) André Bancel, 'Jean-Baptiste Deshays 1729-1765', Paris, 2008, p. 315, FB.9 Comment: François-Bruno's career was long overshadowed by that of his brother Jean-Baptiste (1729-1765), two years his senior. In the absence of precise sources on François Bruno's career, the works reported as being by the painter Deshays, without further details, were for a long time attributed to Jean-Baptiste. The publication by André Bancel in 2008 of Jean-Baptiste's catalogue raisonné finally made it possible to separate Jean-Baptiste's work from that of his brother. Admitted to the Académie in 1764, François Bruno never delivered his reception piece. He did, however, exhibit at the Salon in 1765, 1767, 1769 and 1771, and liked to specify in his signature that he was the King's painter. Although many aspects of his life and career as a painter remain a mystery, François Bruno remained deeply attached to his native Rouen, where he married Henriette Caudron in December 1766. We assume that the painter is delivering his portrait here as he indicates on the canvas to the left: "Fcit Deshays uxore Pictor Regis 1768". In fact, this is what was legibly written when the work was offered for sale in 1936. However, the signature now appears to have been erased, for some reason. Could it be due to an unfortunate restoration? Or is the inscription hidden under a large-scale overpainting? André Bancel, in his catalogue, mentions another version (or copy, in our opinion) of this portrait, also in oval format, presented for sale on 6 May 1913 at the Hôtel Drouot, Me F. Lair-Dubreuil, under no. 34 (as 'Portrait de Madame Deshays, fille du peintre François Boucher' par Jean-Baptiste Deshays). The author also mentions another portrait of the painter's wife at the Salon of 1765, under number 156. However, thanks to the drawing by Gabriel de Saint-Aubin (Musée du Louvre, inv. 32749), we know that the work is rectangular (see no. FB 30 in André Bancel's catalogue) and that it cannot therefore be our portrait.