Painting Portrait Of A Courtesan, Headdress, Hat, Princess Louis XVI, Following Riout

Portrait of a lady of quality (courtesan), late 18th – early 19th century, Louis XVI style – oil on relined canvas – 61 x 50 cm – entourage/workshop of Rioult Bust portrait of an elegant woman with ribbons and roses, large light hat, ivory bodice with ruffles. Smiling face, direct gaze, unified warm brown background that highlights the figure. Oil on canvas, Beautiful image of worldly sociability at the Louis XVI/Directoire transition: smoothed complexions, freshly vermilion lips, draperies enhanced with off-white and pink impasto. The tight layout, the isolation of the head on a brown background and the frankness of the modeling refer to the Parisian workshops active around 1795–1810. The softness of the face, the floral accessory and the light-colored outfit contribute to an ideal of grace that was still very much 18th century, already ordered by a more neoclassical sensibility. The whole brings the work closer to workshop productions intended for the bourgeois and aristocratic clientele of the turn of the century. Affinities with the Parisian portraitists of the period 1790–1820: circles of Greuze, Labille-Guiard, Mosnier, Ducreux, and, by the sobriety of the background, the typology of the face and the smooth treatment of the flesh, with the entourage/workshop of Louis Edouard Rioult at the beginning of his careerFrench school, late 18th – early 19th century (circa 1795–1810). Oil on canvas. Old relining; old varnish. 61 x 50 cm (canvas visible). Old mentions on the back, various auction labels from the 19th century, Good condition, some old repainting visible, edges with minor wear.