François de TROY and workshop (Toulouse, 1645 - Paris, 1730) Portrait of Catherine de La Boissière, née Loison Oil on canvas (Original canvas) (Restorations and micro-lifts) 75.5 x 61 cm Provenance: Private collection, Paris "'Do you know how the Loisons Have earned so many Ducatons? It's for doing the job well That we do in the Bois de Boulogne' 1. " The reputation of the Loison sisters - Jeanne the blonde and Catherine the brunette - was one of the most sulphurous. Celebrated for their many lovers, they were also courtesans, managers of a gaming hall and musicians 2. Surrounded by wealthy, brilliant and cultured company, they used their influence to influence members of the Court. But while their adventures entertained King Louis XIV, he was nevertheless keen to keep them at arm's length, even driving Jeanne into exile in 1711. A pupil of his father, then of Nicolas Loir and Claude Lefebvre, François de Troy was admitted to the Académie Royale in 1674 and remains considered one of the leading portrait painters of his time. At the Salon of 1699, he exhibited three portraits, including those of the "Demoiselles Loison sœurs" (Livret du Salon, p. 14). The painting is certainly the one cited a few years later in the inventory of Catherine Loison's possessions, which mentions "a Large Portrait representing the said Lady [...] painted by De Troyes garny with his gilded border 3". This painting was engraved by André Bouys and the print exhibited at the Salon of 1704 (Livret du Salon, p. 22). In May 1700, Catherine Loison married Pierre Le Cornu, chevalier de La Boissière, whose name, so appropriate, provoked a certain amount of ridicule from his contemporaries. The cuckolded husband did not have to suffer for long, as André Bouys' engraving in 1704 showed that Catherine was already a widow. This print makes it possible to identify the model for the painting with certainty, and bears an additional inscription on the score: "Sarabande de Mademoiselle Loison". A version of this portrait of Catherine Loison holding a score was recently sold in our Rooms 4. This is another portrait of Catherine Loison, probably also aged around thirty, depicted in bust form in a more usual pose. As in the painting presented in our galleries in 2023, François de Troy, with the help of his studio, took great care with the shimmering fabrics worn by the model. 1. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des Manuscrits, ms. fr. 12620, Chansonnier de Maurepas, vol. 30, folio 155. 2. See the article by Pascale Cugy, "Images et célébrité. A propos des portraits en mode de Jeanne et Catherine Loison", in Thomas Kirchner, Sophie Raux and Marlen Schneider, L'art de l'Ancien Régime: Sortir du rang, 2022, p. 127-145. 3. Paris, Arch. nat., MC/CXVII/198, 30 March 1705, cited by Calame, Regnard: sa vie et son œuvre, Paris, 1960, p. 89 (note 14). 4 Anonymous sale; Paris, Artcurial, 22 November 2023, no. 71 (sold for €23,239). François de TROY and workshop (Toulouse, 1645 - Paris, 1730) 75.5 x 61 cm