''Portrait of a Violinist'' is a 1773 oil on canvas painting by the French artist

Anne Vallayer-Coster Anne Vallayer-Coster (21 December 1744 – 28 February 1818) was a major 18th-century French painter best known for still lifes. She achieved fame and recognition very early in her career, being admitted to the Académie Royale de Peinture e ...

in the

Nationalmuseum Nationalmuseum (or National Museum of Fine Arts) is the national gallery of Sweden, located on the peninsula Blasieholmen in central Stockholm. The museum's operations stretches far beyond the borders of Blasieholmen, the nationalmuseum manag ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. This painting shows a seated woman with an instrument similar to a violin bent over a music book. Vallayer did not marry until 1781 and therefore was probably still working alongside family members when this was painted. Vallayer expert Marianne Roland-Michel has speculated that the woman in the painting was possibly one of her sisters, as Vallayer's rare portraits tended to be from her inner circle. It is unknown whether her sisters were musicians, however. Vallayer was admitted to the

Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture The Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (; en, "Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture") was founded in 1648 in Paris, France. It was the premier art institution of France during the latter part of the Ancien Régime until it was abol ...

in 1770 on the basis of her still life paintings, several of which are still in the collection of the Louvre, including a still life of musical instruments that shows a similar violin: File:Attributes of Music.jpg, ''Attributes of Music'', Louvre, 1770 The violin-like instrument has six strings and frets, which is more typical of the viol family, and is rather like a viola da braccio so, despite the name of the painting, it is not a conventional violin. This portrait painting was purchased for EUR 903,000 at auction in 2015 by the Swedish museum that also owns two of her still lifes. Its price was a world record for paintings by Vallayer.Collection Louis Grandchamp des Raux
sale results by Sotheby's At the same sale, another world record for a painting by a woman was achieved, and it was a still life by

Louise Moillon Louise Moillon (1610–1696) was a French people, French still life Painting, painter in the Baroque era. It is recorded that she became known as one of the best still life painters of her time, as her work was purchased by King Charles I of Engla ...

for EUR 1,083,000. According to the provenance listed by the auction house, the painting was one of many sold in 1783 by

Jean-Benjamin de La Borde Jean-Benjamin François de la Borde (5 September 1734 – 22 July 1794) was a French composer, writer on music and '' fermier général'' (farm tax collector). Born into an aristocratic family, he studied violin under Antoine Dauvergne and composi ...

a violinist and composer who had been ''premier

valet de chambre ''Valet de chambre'' (), or ''varlet de chambre'', was a court appointment introduced in the late Middle Ages, common from the 14th century onwards. Royal households had many persons appointed at any time. While some valets simply waited on t ...

'' for

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 ...

.Vente "Du cabinet de Mr de La Borde" et à divers, Paris, Hôtel de Bullion, Me Boileau, 16 mai 1783, lot n°20

References

*M. Roland-Michel, ''Anne Vallayer-Coster 1744-1818'', Paris, 1970, p. 208, n°310
painting record
at Sotheby's Paris sale 26 March 2015 (sold for EUR 903,000) {{DEFAULTSORT:Portrait of a Violinist 1773 paintings Paintings in the collection of the Nationalmuseum Stockholm French paintings Musical instruments in art