Jean-Auguste-Dominique INGRES (Montauban, 1780 - Paris, 1867) Portrait of Charles Marcotte d'Argenteuil seated in profile, mid-body, 1811, retouched in 1835 Black pencil, shading Signed, located and dated 'Ingres/Rome/1811' lower left Subsequently annotated by the artist 'Portrait de Mr Marcotte d'arg/euil/Directeur Général des/ Eaux et forêts, commandeur de/l'ordre de la Légion d'honneur' upper right and 'Restauré Par l'auteur à Paris 1835' lower left (Some creasing of the paper and small air bubbles) Portrait of Charles Marcotte d'Argenteuil, black chalk, signed and dated, by J.-A.-D. Ingres 8.66 x 6.30 in. 22 x 16 cm Provenance: Charles Marcotte d'Argenteuil Collection, until his death in 1864 ; Then by descent ; Joseph Marcotte Collection, until his death in 1893; Collection of Madame Alexandre Legentil, née Marie Marcotte, until her death in 1920; Collection Madame Marcel Pougin de la Maisonneuve, née Elisabeth Marcotte, daughter of Joseph Marcotte, until her death in 1939; Then by descent ; Collection of Madame Claude Chavane, née Marie-Louise de la Maisonneuve; Then by direct descent Exhibitions : Perhaps Ingres, Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1867, no. 373 Peut-être Ingres, Chambre syndicale de la Curiosité et des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1921, no. 62 Bibliography: Peut-être Charles Blanc, Ingres, Paris, 1870, p.238 Perhaps Henri Delaborde, Ingres, Paris, 1870, n° 362 Hans Naef, Ingres' portraits of the Marcotte family, "The Art Bulletin", New York, December 1958, pp.336-345, fig.11-12 Daniel Ternois, Les dessins d'Ingres au Musée de Montauban, les portraits, Inventaire général des dessins de musée de province, III, Paris, 1959, under n° 119 Hans Naef, Eighteen Portrait Drawings by Ingres, "Master Drawings", IV, 3, New-York, 1966, p.258 Catalogue of the exhibition Ingres e Firenze, Orsanmichele, Florenz, 1968, under no. 114 Hans Naef, Die Bildniszeichnungen von J.-A.-D. Ingres, Bern, Bentelli Verlag, 1978, tome IV, n°64, reproduced p.123 A tracing after this drawing is in the Musée de Montauban (see G.Vigne, Dessins d'Ingres/Catalogue raisonné des dessins du musée de Montauban, Paris, 1995, ed. Gallimard-RMN, no. 2717, repr. p.490). Drawn in 1811 in Rome, a year after they met and were commissioned to paint a portrait for the first time, this drawing bears witness to the fervent friendship between Ingres and Marcotte, as can be seen from the annotation in the artist's hand: "Restored by the author in Paris 1835". 25 years after their first meeting, the two men were closer than ever. Their mutual affection was only confirmed by the death of Charles Marcotte in 1864, 54 years after their first meeting: "There are few examples of a longer and more lively friendship," he was quoted as saying in Charles Marcotte's eulogy on 20 February 1864. The artist, who made a tracing of his drawing to keep his friend's effigy with him, pasted the fine paper onto a liner. We hypothesise that, as the drawing was probably a little pale, Ingres reworked Charles Marcotte's face with blur to make it more legible. The blurring technique used on the portraits of this series of friends depicted in Roman profile is not found on any other of these "medallions" executed by Ingres in 1810/1811. When Marcotte left Rome in 1812 for a new post in Germany, he took with him the effigies drawn by Ingres of two of his colleagues in the Imperial Administration in Italy, Charles-Joseph-Laurent Cordier and Hippolyte-François Devillers (Naef 76 and 77), depicted like himself in Roman profile, a transparent allusion to their position as French proconsuls. This triumvirate formed a portable gallery, which was enriched in 1822 by Ingres' self-portrait (Naef 265). Over the years, around twenty family portraits were added to his emotional gallery, making this ensemble a masterly artistic unicum. This need to surround himself with representations of his loved ones in order to remember them on a regular basis shows a very sensitive affection. Through his drawings, Marcotte lives daily with the people he loves or has loved. More than sixty years of correspondence and 120 letters from Ingres bear witness to this exceptional friendship, made up of mutual affection, respect, and material and moral support. Ingres showed his support at his friend's wedding by giving him his portrait and that of his wife, and Marcotte reciprocated by introducing him to Delphine Ramel twenty-two years later. In addition to our drawing, we know of two other portraits drawn by him: one in front of the Vatican landscape in 1811 (Naef 65, Musée du Louvre), the other immortalising him shortly after Charles's marriage in 1828 (anonymous sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, de Maigret, 24 March 2010, no. 1, sold for €650,000), to match the portrait of his wife that we are presenting here. The portrait painted by Ingres in 1810 is now in the National Gallery in Washington. Jean-Auguste-Dominique INGRES (Montauban, 1780 - Paris, 1867) 22 x 16 cm A tracing after this drawing is in the Musée de Montauban (see G.Vigne, Dessins d'Ingres/Catalogue raisonné des dessins du musée de Montauban, Paris, 1995, ed. Gallimard-RMN, no. 2717, repr. p.490). Drawn in 1811 in Rome, a year after their first meeting and the first commission for a portrait, this drawing bears witness to the fervent friendship between Ingres and Marcotte, as can be seen from the annotation in the artist's hand: "Restored by the author in Paris 1835". 25 years after their first meeting, the two men were closer than ever. Their mutual affection was only confirmed by the death of Charles Marcotte in 1864, 54 years after their first meeting: "There are few examples of a longer and more lively friendship," he was quoted as saying in Charles Marcotte's eulogy on 20 February 1864. The artist, who made a tracing of his drawing to keep his friend's effigy with him, pasted the fine paper onto a liner. We hypothesise that, as the drawing was probably a little pale, Ingres reworked Charles Marcotte's face with blur to make it more legible. The blurring technique used on the portraits of this series of friends depicted in Roman profile is not found on any other of these "medallions" executed by Ingres in 1810/1811. When Marcotte left Rome in 1812 for a new post in Germany, he took with him the effigies drawn by Ingres of two of his colleagues in the Imperial Administration in Italy, Charles-Joseph-Laurent Cordier and Hippolyte-François Devillers (Naef 76 and 77), depicted like himself in Roman profile, a transparent allusion to their position as French proconsuls. This triumvirate formed a portable gallery, which was enriched in 1822 by Ingres' self-portrait (Naef 265). Over the years, around twenty family portraits were added to his emotional gallery, making this ensemble a masterly artistic unicum. This need to surround himself with representations of his loved ones in order to remember them on a regular basis shows a very sensitive affection. Through his drawings, Marcotte lives daily with the people he loves or has loved. More than sixty years of correspondence and 120 letters from Ingres bear witness to this exceptional friendship, made up of mutual affection, respect, and material and moral support. Ingres showed his support at his friend's wedding by giving him his portrait and that of his wife, and Marcotte reciprocated by introducing him to Delphine Ramel twenty-two years later. In addition to our drawing, we know of two other portraits drawn by him: one in front of the Vatican landscape in 1811 (Naef 65, Musée du Louvre), the other immortalising him shortly after Charles's marriage in 1828 (anonymous sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, de Maigret, 24 March 2010, no. 1, sold for €650,000), to match the portrait of his wife that we are presenting here. The portrait painted by Ingres in 1810 is now in the National Gallery in Washington.