Pierrette-Madeleine-Cécile Durand, later Gros (1745–1831) was a French painter, the mother of

Antoine-Jean Gros Antoine-Jean Gros (; 16 March 177125 June 1835) was a French painter of historical subjects. He was given title of Baron Gros in 1824. Gros studied under Jacques-Louis David in Paris and began an independent artistic career during the French R ...

. Born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, Durand was the daughter of merchant Antoine-Sébastien Durand or Durant (1712–1787). She married the painter

Jean-Antoine Gros Jean-Antoine Gros (1740–1790) was a French painter, father of Antoine-Jean Gros. Born in Toulouse, Gros married Félicité Labille in 1764, becoming the brother-in-law of Adélaïde Labille-Guiard. She died four years later, and in 1770 he remar ...

in Paris on April 2, 1770. Besides Antoine-Jean they also had a daughter, Jeanne-Cécile (1774–1848). Durand was active as a

miniaturist A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century eli ...

and

pastel A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those use ...

list during her career. Several pastels signed "Mlle. Durand" dating to between 1763 and 1777 have been documented, but it seems unlikely that she would have used that signature during the entirety of that period. No other work is known to have survived.Profile
at the ''Dictionary of Pastellists Before 1800''.

References

1745 births 1831 deaths French women painters 18th-century French painters 18th-century French women artists 19th-century French painters 19th-century French women artists Pastel artists Portrait miniaturists French portrait painters Painters from Paris {{France-painter-18thC-stub