Attributed to François-Hubert DROUAIS (1727-1775) - Lot 28

Attributed to François-Hubert DROUAIS (1727-1775) Portrait of Marie-Elisabeth Mignot, wife of Dompierre de Fontaine then Marquise de Florian (1715 - 1771), as a draftswoman Canvas 73 x 59 cm Bears an inscription on the reverse of the canvas "Mme de Dompierre d'hornoy de Fontaines"; bears 20th-century labels on the reverse of the stretcher with attribution to Charles Van Loo and François Hubert Drouais "1275 / F.H. Drouais Elisabeth Dompierre de Fontaines d'hornoy niece of Voltaire, demoiselle Mignot / ... Dompierre d'hornoy" and "Carle Van ... / Mme Dompierre d'Hornoy / à M ... anger". Louis XV-style carved oak frame with pigtails Old restorations Provenance : Collection Monsieur Dompierre d'Hornoy, Château de Dompierre d'Hornoy before 1906 ; Duveen brothers, London, May 1906, no. 6 (Drouais); Collection Sigismond Reitlinger, Paris, 1909 (Carle Van Loo according to the label on the reverse); Acquired by the current owner's grandfather from Etienne Ader in the 1950s. Exhibition: An exhibition of Masterspieces by French painters of the XVIII century, London, Duveen brothers, May 1906, no. 6 (Drouais). Bibliography: N. Jeffares, Dictionary of pastellists before 1800, online edition consulted March 2026, (unsigned oil portrait of her attributed to Drouais). To be compared with the Self-portrait painted by Madame de Dompierre de Fontaine (canvas, 32 x 24 cm) sold by the Deloys auction house in Saumur in December 2018 (cabinet Turquin expert), purchased by the Château de Ferney-Voltaire. This canvas, the only known painting by this woman artist, bore these old inscriptions on the reverse: "Mme de Dompierre de Fontaine, mère du Président F. Hornoy arrière grand-père de Paul Carpentier par sa mère née de Dompierre - Hornoy, mariée 2 noces au M. de Florian (oncle de l'auteur)" and the painting was accompanied by a paper in an envelope with these inscriptions: "Mme de Dompierre de Fontaine, niece of Voltaire, sister of Mme Denis and executrix of Voltaire's will. Married for the second time to the Marquis de Florian, uncle of the Fabuliste. " Madame de Dompierre de Fontaine, née Marie-Elisabeth Mignot, is Voltaire's niece and the younger sister of Marie-Louise Mignot, known as Madame Denis, Voltaire's governess and companion at Les Délices. Madame de Dompierre is known as a pastellist, although in his correspondence Voltaire refers to her works as "tableaux", without specifying whether they are pastels or canvases. In a letter dated July 2, 1755, he wrote: "I am writing to you, my dearest niece, by nailing your portrait and that of your son to my bedside table. In truth, here are three masterpieces of your style that are very dear to me, you, the little d'Hornoy, and his pastels. You couldn't have made a prettier child or a prettier portrait. Yours is a perfect likeness. You are an excellent painter. " In 1738, Marie-Elisabeth Mignot married Nicolas Joseph de Dompierre de Fontaine, esquire, President of the Treasurers of France in Amiens and Master Advisor to the Court of Auditors. This union gave birth to Alexandre Marie François de Dompierre d'Hornoy in 1742, who became President of the First Chamber of Investigations of the Parliament of Paris in 1780, Mayor of Hornoy in 1808 and Honorary State Councillor in 1814. After her husband's death in 1756, Marie-Elisabeth remarried in 1762 to Philippe-Antoine de Claris, Marquis de Florian and uncle of fabulist Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian. She died in 1771, aged 56. Our Portrait is the counterpart to the Portrait of Marie-Louise Denis attributed to François-Hubert Drouais, painted around 1737 (initial square format, same dimensions as ours, turned oval. Formerly in the collection of the Shelburn Museum Vermont, inv 1966-30, then sold in New York, Sotheby's, January 30, 1997, no. 170 and January 8, 1998, no. 71). The two portraits were shown together at Château de Dompierre, then at Duveen in 1906, where they were separated. Marie-Elisabeth de Dompierre de Fontaine took over in pastel the Portrait of her sister, Marie-Louise Denis (Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de la ville de Genève; see N. Jeffares, op. cit.). For our painting, an attribution to Mme de Dompierre de Fontaine has been suggested, but few painted works by this artist are comparable.