JACQUES VIGOUREUX DUPLESSIS (PARIS 1680-1732) - photo 1
JACQUES VIGOUREUX DUPLESSIS (PARIS 1680-1732) - photo 2
JACQUES VIGOUREUX DUPLESSIS (PARIS 1680-1732) - photo 3

JACQUES VIGOUREUX DUPLESSIS (PARIS 1680-1732)

Sold
€ 60 480
Auction dateClassic
15.06.2023 15:00UTC +02:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
France, Paris
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Archive
ID 974636
Lot 27 | JACQUES VIGOUREUX DUPLESSIS (PARIS 1680-1732)
JACQUES VIGOUREUX DUPLESSIS (PARIS 1680-1732)

Portrait d'un dignitaire chinois

huile sur toile

95,5 x 73,7 cm. (37 1/2 x 29 in.)





Provenance

Collection particulière européenne.



Special notice


This item will be transferred to an offsite warehouse after the sale. Please refer to department for information about storage charges and collection
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Post lot text

JACQUES VIGOUREUX DUPLESSIS, PORTRAIT OF A CHINESE DIGNITARY, OIL ON CANVAS

The main character in this exotic portrait, with his European features and oriental costume, remains an enigma. Holding a Chinese fan in his hand, he is being watched by a mischievous figure hiding behind a sumptuous curtain. It is tempting to suggest that he is a European dignitary in China or someone who had travelled in Asia. However, what he wears are not true examples of Chinese or Siamese clothing, but an imaginary outfit designed with an oriental flavour. It is possible that the artist was inspired for this costume by those worn by the emperor in the famous tapestry set L'Histoire de l'Empereur de Chine (Musée du Louvre, Paris, inv. nos. OAR 106-109), woven by the Manufacture de Beauvais from designs by Guy-Louis Vernansal (1648-1729), Jean-Baptiste Belin de Fontenay (1653-1715) and Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer (1636-1699). The ensemble consists of nine tapestries, including one entitled L'Audience du prince in which the emperor wears a hat almost identical to the one shown here. This fictitious aspect of the portrait suggests another possibility for the central sitter, could he be an actor playing the role of a Chinese gentleman?

Jacques Vigoureux Duplessis (1680-1732) was an artist closely associated with the theatre: he painted theatre sets for the Royal Academy of Music in Paris and for the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels. It is therefore not impossible to imagine that this painting, whose theatrical aspect is indisputable, might be linked to the new interest in Chinese subjects shown by French playwrights at the beginning of the eighteenth century – an interest that informed plays such as the opera-ballet La Mascarade du roi de la Chine by Anne Danican-Philidor (1681-1728), Arlequin invisible chez le roi de Chine by Jean Claude Gillier (1667-1737) and the comic opera La Princesse de la Chine by Gillier and Alain-René Lesage (1668-1747). As in Duplessis's painting, these works do not attempt to represent the Orient realistically, but merely create an exotic world for an audience that had grown tired of traditional theatrical subjects. Another interesting detail is that portrait painting plays an important role in La Princesse de la Chine, which tells the story of a beautiful Chinese princess who tests the princes who wish to become her husband: if they do not succeed, they are put to death. However, before cutting off their heads, her father, the emperor, asks to have their portrait painted.
Applied technique:Oil on canvas
Art style:Old Masters
Genre:Portrait
Place of origin:Western Europe, France, Europe
Auction house category:Paintings
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
9 Avenue Matignon
75008 Paris
France
Preview
15.06.2023
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