François-Hubert Drouais (Paris, 14 December 1727 – Paris, 21 October 1775) was a leading French portrait painter during the latter years of

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

's reign.For a history of the Drouais family, see Prosper Dorbec (1904, 1905) and Camille Gabillot (1905, 1906). For an analysis of Drouais's oeuvre, see Catherine Egan 2016 http://hdl.handle.net/1959.9/562512 His clientele included the French royal family and nobility, foreign aristocracy, fermiers-généraux (tax farmers), and the wealthier members of Parisian society and their favourites. But it was his increasing popularity at the French court that expanded his clientele and made his portraits a fashionable necessity. Drouais’s work was admired during his lifetime, and his popularity and clientele did not diminish from the occasional adverse judgement published in Salon reviews. Drouais was apprenticed successively to his father

Hubert Drouais Hubert Drouais (; 5 May 1699 1 – 9 February 1767) was a French Painting, painter, portraitist and miniaturist. Drouais was born in Pont-Audemer in Normandy, the son of Anne Talon and the painter Jean Drouais. Hubert followed in his father’s ...

Donat Nonnotte Donatien Nonnotte (10 January 1708 – 4 February 1785) was a French painter who specialized in portraiture. A native of Besançon, Nonnotte was received by the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture in 1741 as a portrait painter. In 1754, ...

, Charles-André van Loo,

Charles-Joseph Natoire Charles-Joseph Natoire (3 March 1700 – 23 August 1777) was a French painter in the Rococo manner, a pupil of François Lemoyne and director of the French Academy in Rome, 1751–1775. Considered during his lifetime the equal of François Bouc ...

, and

François Boucher François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...

. He was received into the Académie royale in 1758 with his ''morceaux des réception'' portraits of the celebrated sculptors Edme Bouchardon (1698–1762) and Guillaume II Coustou (1716–77). Both portraits were exhibited at the Salon of 1759 and received praise. Drouais attended the meetings of the Académie royale and, from 1755 until his death in 1775, exhibited regularly at the official Salons held in the Louvre in Paris. Drouais was a favourite portrait painter of Jeanne Beçu, comtesse du Barry (1743–93) and, from 1772 until his death, held the position of ''premier peintre'' to Louis-Stanislas-Xavier, comte de Provence (1755–1824), known as Monsieur, later Louis XVIII. Mesdames de France, the daughters of Louis XV, were also important patrons. They recommended him to their father, Louis XV, when a portraitist was sought to travel to Vienna to paint the young Marie-Antoinette. Drouais was approached, but his commission fee was regarded as too high. Ducreux went instead. Some of Drouais's pupils include

Catherine Lusurier Catherine Lusurier (1752–11 January 1781) was a French painter. Lusurier was a native of Paris; her mother, Jeanne Callot, was a dressmaker, while her father Pierre was a member of a family of milliners. She was the niece of Hubert Drouais, to ...

, his son

Jean-Germain Drouais Jean Germain Drouais (; 25 November 1763 – 13 February 1788), French historical painter, was born in Paris. His father, François-Hubert Drouais, and his grandfather, Hubert Drouais, were well-known portrait painters; it was from his father t ...

, Jean-Louis Voille, and Pierre-Hippolyte Lemoyne. Among his portraits include those of

, Louis's official mistresses

Madame de Pompadour Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and rema ...

and

Madame du Barry Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse du Barry (19 August 1743 – 8 December 1793) was the last ''maîtresse-en-titre'' of King Louis XV of France. She was executed, by guillotine, during the French Revolution due to accounts of treason—particularly being ...

, Mesdames de France, the comte and comtesse de Provence, the comte de Buffon, Madame Favart, and the young

Marie-Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child ...

. File:Madame Sophie de France (1734–1782).jpg, '' Madame Sophie de France'' (1762),

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

File:Buffon 1707-1788.jpg, ''Portrait of Buffon'' (1707–1788) File:François-Hubert DROUAIS 1763-4. London NG. Madame de Pompadour at her Tambour Frame..jpg, ''

Madame de Pompadour at her Tambour Frame {{italic title ''Madame de Pompadour at her Tambour Frame'' is a 1753-64 painting by François-Hubert Drouais showing Madame de Pompadour embroidering. It is now in the National Gallery, London. Until 1974 it was at Mentmore Towers Mentmore ...

'' (1763–1764),

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

, London File:Madame Drouais.jpg, ''Madame Drouais'' (1758),

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, Paris File:Monsieur Denis-Paul le Pot de la Fontaine François-Hubert Drouais.JPG, ''Monsieur Denis-Paul le Pot de la Fontaine'' (?), 1772, oil on canvas,

Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the list of largest art museums, largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation a ...

File:0 Versailles musée de l'Histoire de France - Portrait de la comtesse Du Barry en Flore - F-H Drouais (2).JPG File:Signature of Francois Hubert Drouais (1756).jpg, Drouais's signature in ''Family Portrait'' in the collection of the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Drouais, Francois-Hubert 1727 births 1775 deaths 18th-century French painters French male painters Painters from Paris 18th-century French male artists