Description
This pastel drawing depicts François Tronchin, a prominent figure in his native Geneva and an impassioned patron of the arts. The table before Tronchin features a book, mathematical instruments, and papers that indicate his interests in architecture and music. Rembrandt's Lady in Bed, a painting that the Dutch master created around 1645 (today in the collection of the Scottish National Gallery) and the most highly prized painting in Tronchin's collection, rests on an easel nearby. Liotard considered the portrait of Tronchin among his finest works, and the meticulous rendering of the sitter's powdered wig, transparent flesh, and lace cuffs suggest the skill he had developed in pastel at this time.
Provenance
François Tronchin [1704-1798], Geneva, by descent to Jean-Louis Robert Tronchin (1757-1798); Jean-Louis Robert Tronchin [1763-
?], Geneva, by descent to Armand Henri Tronchin (1798-?); Armand Henri Tronchin [1794-1865], Bessinge, Sweden, by descent to Louis-Rémy-Nosky Tronchin (?-after 1865); Louis-Rémy-Nosky Tronchin [1825-1873], Geneva, by descent to Henry Tonchin (after 1865-after 1873); Henry Tronchin [1853-1891], by descent to Robert Tronchin (after 1873-after 1891); Robert Tronchin [1883-?], by descent to Christiane Tronchin, Marquise de Hillerin, Paris (by 1925-by 1948); Christiane Tronchin, Marquise de Hillerin, Paris, sold as part of the Tronchin collcetion to Xavier Givaudan (by 1948-1950); Xavier Givaudan, Geneva, by descent to André Givaudan (1950-by 1973); André Givaudan, Geneva (by 1973-after 1974); (Léon Givaudan, Paris, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH) (after 1974-1978); Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1978-)
Accession Number
1978.54
Medium
pastel on parchment
Dimensions
Unframed: 38 x 46.3 cm (14 15/16 x 18 1/4 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund
Tags
Drawing Neoclassical & Romantic (1751–1850) Pastel Swiss
Background & Context
Background Story
Jean-Etienne Liotard (1702-1789) was a Swiss painter known for the precisely observed portraits and pastels that make him one of the most accomplished portrait painters of the 18th century. Francois Tronchin from 1757 depicts the Geneva banker and collector Francois Tronchin in the precisely observed, elegant manner that distinguishes Liotard's best portraits from the more general portrait painting of his contemporaries. Liotard was known for his precisely observed portraits that combine the Swiss tradition of precise observation with the elegance of 18th-century portraiture, and the 1757 date places this in Liotard's most productive period.
Cultural Impact
Francois Tronchin is important in the history of 18th-century portraiture because it demonstrates the precisely observed, elegant manner that Liotard brought to portraiture as one of the most accomplished portrait painters of the 18th century. Liotard's precisely observed portraits—combining the Swiss tradition of precise observation with the elegance of 18th-century portraiture—represent one of the most accomplished traditions in 18th-century portrait painting, and the 1757 portrait shows this tradition at its most precisely observed and elegant.
Why It Matters
Francois Tronchin is Liotard's precisely observed 18th-century portrait: the Geneva banker rendered in the elegant manner of one of the most accomplished portrait painters of the 18th century. The 1757 portrait shows the combination of Swiss precise observation with the elegance of 18th-century portraiture that makes Liotard one of the most accomplished portrait painters of the period.
