Lot 29: Jean-Laurent Mosnier (Paris 1743/4-1808 Saint Petersburg)

Portrait of the marquise de Grécourt, née de la Fresnaye, in a red velvet dress with a white chiffon scarf
signed and dated 'J.L. Mosnier f. 1790' (lower left) and with identifying inscription (on the reverse)
oil on canvas, unlined
28 5/8 x 23 1/8 in. (72.7 x 58.7 cm.)

In the family of the French grandmother of the present owner.

Mosnier first trained as a miniature painter at the Académie de St Luc, Paris. In 1776 he was appointed Peintre de la Reine to Queen Marie-Antoinette. He was approved by the Académie Royale in 1786 and received as a full member in 1788, presenting two portraits of Academicians, the sculptor Charles-Antoine Bridan (Paris, Ecole des Beaux-Arts) and the painter Louis Lagrenée (Versailles). He exhibited a Self-portrait (Saint Petersburg, Hermitage) at the Salon of 1786. After the outbreak of the French Revolution, Mosnier fled to London in 1790 (presumably after painting the present picture, which is not of an English sitter) where he had considerable success, exhibiting at the Royal Academy from 1791 to 1796. In 1802 he moved to Saint Petersburg where he became court painter to Tsar Alexander I, and where he died in 1808.

A version of the present work, was sold, Sotheby's, Monaco, 25 June 1984, lot 3387.

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.