François-Hubert DROUAIS (Paris, 1727 - 1775 ) The young mischievous woman Oval oil on canvas Signed and dated 'Drouais / 1770' on the left The mischievous young woman, oil on canvas, by F.-H. Drouais 21.26 x 18.11 in. 54 x 46 cm Provenance: Haritonenko Collection, Russia, confiscated in 1918, deposited in the Rumyantsov Museum in Moscow, then transferred to the Pushkin Museum and sold in 1928; Collection of Mr Léon Bloch in 1935; Anonymous sale; Paris, Hôtel Drouot, Me Millon et associés, 18 June 2010, no. 42; Acquired at this sale by the current owners Exhibitions: Salon of 1771, n° 61 (several portraits under the same n°) L'exposition de l'art français au XVIIIe siècle, Copenhagen, Charlottenborg Palace, 1935, n° 55 (belonging to Mr Léon Bloch) Bibliography: Louis Réau, "Catalogue de l'art français dans le musées russes", Bulletin de la Société de l'histoire de l'art français, 1928, p. 238, no. 515 Elles, portraits de femmes dans les collections publiques du Limousin, exhibition catalogue, Guéret, musée d'art et d'archéologie, 2000, no. 14 (cited p. 72) The publication of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Emile in 1762 marked a turning point in the education of children in the eighteenth century. The author presents the child as a being in his or her own right and makes childhood an essential period in the development of adulthood, thereby contributing to a change in family relationships and their representation towards greater intimacy marked by tenderness and spontaneity. After working in the studios of his father Hubert Drouais, the portraitist Donat Nonnotte, Carle van Loo and François Boucher, François-Hubert Drouais became famous for his Portrait of the Duke of Berry and the Count of Provence (now in the Museu de Arte in Sao Paulo), exhibited at the Salon of 1757. The image of these two young princes in lace dresses and bonnets, sitting in a park next to a basket of peaches and a puppy, testifies to Drouais's ability to capture the charm of childhood. He became the favourite portraitist of the court of Louis XV, between the ageing Nattier and Élisabeth Vigée-Le Brun, and the specialist in portraits of children, treated more as genre figures than true portraits. The models were depicted half-body, often accompanied by a toy or small animal, and engaged in the activities of their age. These representations met with great success, and in 1767, the Mercure de France wrote: "The painter of children is that of simple nature, and whoever knows how to imitate it as Mr Drouais does achieves the perfection of his art". These much-loved childhood games inspired many artists, from Antoine Watteau to Jean-Honoré Fragonard. Dated 1770, our painting is probably the one exhibited at the Salon of 1771 (no. 61), along with its counterpart, the Petit garçon présentant son polichinelle (also dated 1770, location unknown). The description given by the critic Mathieu-François Pidansat de Mayrobert corresponds to the description of the painting except for the sex of the child: "Mr Drouais, as fertile as he is varied in his caricatures, has given us bambochades of all kinds. On one side is a little boy showing his arse, on the other is his counterpart being carried on his back by a gossip: here a little girl is putting lipstick and flies on her cat; here her companion is playing with her dog". (cf. Les Salons de Bachaumont, introduction and analysis by Fabrice Faré, Paris, 1995, p.28). Our painting shows a little girl with a mischievous face and short hair, lifting up her shirt. The spiritual lightness of the composition symbolises French art of the 18th century and helps to explain the success of this painting, engraved by Antoine François Hémery, and the number of replicas that have been recorded. This fact sheet has been compiled using the notes from the François-Hubert Drouais catalogue compiled by the artist's specialist, the late Laurent Hugues. François-Hubert DROUAIS (Paris, 1727 - 1775 ) 54 x 46 cm