The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 16, 2024

Portrait of Anne Louis Goislard de Montsabert, Comte de Richbourg-le-Toureil

1734

Nicolas de Largillière

(French, 1656–1746)

France, 18th century

oil on canvas

Framed: 108.5 x 91.5 x 11 cm (42 11/16 x 36 x 4 5/16 in.); Unframed: 80.6 x 63.8 cm (31 3/4 x 25 1/8 in.)

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1970.31

Location: 215 French, German, and Dutch

Description

By positioning the figure close to the picture plane and engulfed in a swirl of drapery, Nicolas de Largillière created a remarkably informal likeness of the 26-year-old Goislard. This impression is enhanced by the sitter’s open shirt and the drift of wig powder that dusts the shoulders of his velvet doublet. Warm hues and thick brushstrokes reveal the artist’s study of earlier Flemish painters, notably Anthony van Dyck. Despite his youth and seeming nonchalance, Goislard was a figure of prominence. He may have commissioned this work to commemorate his appointment to the Parlement, or governing council, of France in 1732, or earning the title Lord of Montsabert the following year.

Anne Louis Goislard de Montsabert and the Montsabert family
Possibly Comte André de Ganay [1863-1912], Paris1
Charles Fairfax Murray [1849 – 1919], London, sold to Thomas Agnew & Sons
(Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, sold to Calouste S. Gulbenkian)1
Calouste S. Gulbenkian [1869 –1955], sold to Thomas Agnew & Sons
(Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, sold to Charles Fairfax Murray)
Charles Fairfax Murray [1849 – 1919], London
(Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, Fairfax Murray sale, June 15, 1914, no. 24, sold to Bousquet)
1914-
Bousquet 1
1959-1966
Galerie Cailleux, Paris, sold to the Detroit Institute of Arts with funds provided by Ernest Kanzler 1
1966-1967
Ernest Kanzler [1892-1967], Detroit, MI 1
1967-1970
The estate of Ernest Kanzler and Rosemarie Kanzler, sold to Eugene V. Thaw
1970
(Eugene V. Thaw, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)1
1970-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
Provenance Footnotes
1 1The catalogue of the 1914 Galerie Georges Petit sale of the Fairfax Murray collection says that this painting was formerly in the Comte de Ganay collection. A June 4, 1903 sale of the Ganay collection contains a painting entitled “Portrait d’homme” with this description: “Vu de trois quarts à droite, il et coiffé d’une volumineuse perruque poudrée; il est envelope dans un manteau de velours rouge. La tête seule est du maître.” The painting is 75 x 60 cm; CMA’s painting is 80.6 x 63.8 cm. Timing-wise and based on the description of the painting’s composition, this would appear to be the CMA painting: Fairfax Murray sold the painting to Thomas Agnew & Sons in 1905, and so it is certainly feasible he would have purchased it in 1903. The dimensions, while not exact, are close enough to refer to the same work. However, the notation that only the head is the work of Largillière is puzzling, as CMA has not come across any research suggesting Largillière was responsible for the head only. Jean Cailleux, who handled the painting in the 1960s, wrote that he was unable to identify a catalogue which situates the painting in the Ganay collection, and that it does not appear in the June 3, 1903 sale. It is possible that the Galerie Georges Petit incorrectly assumed that the Largillière in the 1903 sale was the painting in Fairfax Murray’s collection, and that Ganay should not be in this provenance.
2 1 After buying the painting from Charles Fairfax Murray in June 1905, Thomas Agnew & Sons sold it to Gulbenkian in June 1907, only to buy it back and sell it again to Murray.
3 1 The Frick Art Reference Library copy of the Fairfax Murray sale catalogue has a handwritten notation listing Bousquet as the buyer.
4 1 Cailleux purchased the painting on the Parisian art market and did not pay attention to its owners prior to Ganay. He also did not know when the painting left Bousquet’s collection, indicating that Cailleux did not purchase it directly from Bousquet.
5 1 In January 1966 the Detroit Institute of Arts acquired the painting from Cailleux with funds provided by Kanzler, who also served as broker in the sale. Kanzler, however, had reservations about the work entering the museum’s permanent collection, and thus reserved the right to buy the painting back from the museum. The portrait was temporarily placed in the DIA’s study collection between 1966 and 1967 and was never officially accessioned. During those two years, the painting traveled back and forth between the museum and Kanzler several times before Kanzler officially purchased the painting from the DIA in June 1967.
6 1Thaw purchased the painting from Kanzler's estate through Mrs. Kanzler's agent.
William S. Talbot, letter to Monsieur Montsabert, Nov. 3, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
Eugene Victor Thaw, letter to William S. Talbot, June 18, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
Eugene Victor Thaw, letter to William S. Talbot, June 18, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
Frederick J. Cummings, letter to William S. Talbot, June 8, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
William S. Talbot, letter to Monsieur Montsabert, Nov. 3, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
Willis F. Woods, letter to Ernest Kanzler, March 14, 1966, in CMA curatorial file.
Gordon H. Robertson, letter to Ernest and Rosemarie Kanzler, July 1, 1966, in CMA curatorial file.
Virginia Reynolds, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Nov. 22, 2013, in CMA curatorial file.
Frederick J. Cummings, letter to William S. Talbot, June 8, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
William S. Talbot, letter to Monsieur Montsabert, Nov. 3, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
Jean Cailleux, letter to William Talbot, Oct. 6, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
William S. Talbot, letter to Monsieur Montsabert, Nov. 3, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
William S. Talbot, letter to Monsieur Montsabert, Nov. 3, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
Clovis Whitfield, letter to William S. Talbot, June 1, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
Galerie Georges Petit. Tableaux anciens. June 15, 1914
William S. Talbot, letter to Monsieur Montsabert, Nov. 3, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
Clovis Whitfield, letter to William S. Talbot, June 1, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
William S. Talbot, letter to Monsieur Montsabert, Nov. 3, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
Clovis Whitfield, letter to William S. Talbot, June 1, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
William S. Talbot, letter to Monsieur Montsabert, Nov. 3, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
Clovis Whitfield, letter to William S. Talbot, June 1, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
William S. Talbot, letter to Monsieur Montsabert, Nov. 3, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
Clovis Whitfield, letter to William S. Talbot, June 1, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
William S. Talbot, letter to Monsieur Montsabert, Nov. 3, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
William S. Talbot, letter to Monsieur Montsabert, Nov. 3, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
Galerie Georges Petit. Tableaux anciens. June 15, 1914.
Talbot, William S. "Largillierre: Comte de Richebourg-le Toureil." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art LVIII, no. 1 (January 1971): 1-9. Reproduced: p. 2, 4, cover; mentioned: 3-5
Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1970." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 58, no. 2 (1971): 22-71. Mentioned: p. 66, cat. no. 43; Reproduced: p. 35 www.jstor.org
Winchester, Alice. "Antiques." Magazine Antiques 100, no. 5 (November 1971): 723-733. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 732-733
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 176 archive.org
"Brief Aus New York." Du: die Kunstzeitschrift 490 (December 1981): 104. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 104
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Reproduced: p. 88; Mentioned: p. 89
Rosenfeld, Myra Nan. Largillierre and the Eighteenth-Century Portrait. Montréal, Québec, Canada: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1982. Mentioned: p. 277, cat. no. 57
Hinson, Tom E. "Insight/On Site." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 78, no. 6 (1991): 246-71. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 256 www.jstor.org
Laine, Merit, and Carolina Brown. Gustaf Lundberg: 1695-1786 : en porträttmålare och hans tid. Stockholm, Sweden: Nationalmuseum, 2006. Reproduced: p. 24, pl. 25; Mentioned: p. 197
Provenance Footnotes
1 1The catalogue of the 1914 Galerie Georges Petit sale of the Fairfax Murray collection says that this painting was formerly in the Comte de Ganay collection. A June 4, 1903 sale of the Ganay collection contains a painting entitled “Portrait d’homme” with this description: “Vu de trois quarts à droite, il et coiffé d’une volumineuse perruque poudrée; il est envelope dans un manteau de velours rouge. La tête seule est du maître.” The painting is 75 x 60 cm; CMA’s painting is 80.6 x 63.8 cm. Timing-wise and based on the description of the painting’s composition, this would appear to be the CMA painting: Fairfax Murray sold the painting to Thomas Agnew & Sons in 1905, and so it is certainly feasible he would have purchased it in 1903. The dimensions, while not exact, are close enough to refer to the same work. However, the notation that only the head is the work of Largillière is puzzling, as CMA has not come across any research suggesting Largillière was responsible for the head only. Jean Cailleux, who handled the painting in the 1960s, wrote that he was unable to identify a catalogue which situates the painting in the Ganay collection, and that it does not appear in the June 3, 1903 sale. It is possible that the Galerie Georges Petit incorrectly assumed that the Largillière in the 1903 sale was the painting in Fairfax Murray’s collection, and that Ganay should not be in this provenance.
2 1 After buying the painting from Charles Fairfax Murray in June 1905, Thomas Agnew & Sons sold it to Gulbenkian in June 1907, only to buy it back and sell it again to Murray.
3 1 The Frick Art Reference Library copy of the Fairfax Murray sale catalogue has a handwritten notation listing Bousquet as the buyer.
4 1 Cailleux purchased the painting on the Parisian art market and did not pay attention to its owners prior to Ganay. He also did not know when the painting left Bousquet’s collection, indicating that Cailleux did not purchase it directly from Bousquet.
5 1 In January 1966 the Detroit Institute of Arts acquired the painting from Cailleux with funds provided by Kanzler, who also served as broker in the sale. Kanzler, however, had reservations about the work entering the museum’s permanent collection, and thus reserved the right to buy the painting back from the museum. The portrait was temporarily placed in the DIA’s study collection between 1966 and 1967 and was never officially accessioned. During those two years, the painting traveled back and forth between the museum and Kanzler several times before Kanzler officially purchased the painting from the DIA in June 1967.
6 1Thaw purchased the painting from Kanzler's estate through Mrs. Kanzler's agent.
Portraiture: The Image of the Individual. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 22, 1983-January 22, 1984).
Nicolas de Largillierre and the Role of the Portrait in 18th Century France. Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (organizer) (September 19-November 15, 1981).
N. De Largillierre and the Role of the Portrait in 18th Century France. Montréal Museum of Fine Arts (September 15-November 15, 1981).
Year in Review: 1970. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-March 7, 1971).
French Art of the Eighteenth Century.,Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, United Kingdom (1913).
Annual Exhibition. Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, United Kingdom (1905).
Provenance Footnotes
1 1The catalogue of the 1914 Galerie Georges Petit sale of the Fairfax Murray collection says that this painting was formerly in the Comte de Ganay collection. A June 4, 1903 sale of the Ganay collection contains a painting entitled “Portrait d’homme” with this description: “Vu de trois quarts à droite, il et coiffé d’une volumineuse perruque poudrée; il est envelope dans un manteau de velours rouge. La tête seule est du maître.” The painting is 75 x 60 cm; CMA’s painting is 80.6 x 63.8 cm. Timing-wise and based on the description of the painting’s composition, this would appear to be the CMA painting: Fairfax Murray sold the painting to Thomas Agnew & Sons in 1905, and so it is certainly feasible he would have purchased it in 1903. The dimensions, while not exact, are close enough to refer to the same work. However, the notation that only the head is the work of Largillière is puzzling, as CMA has not come across any research suggesting Largillière was responsible for the head only. Jean Cailleux, who handled the painting in the 1960s, wrote that he was unable to identify a catalogue which situates the painting in the Ganay collection, and that it does not appear in the June 3, 1903 sale. It is possible that the Galerie Georges Petit incorrectly assumed that the Largillière in the 1903 sale was the painting in Fairfax Murray’s collection, and that Ganay should not be in this provenance.
2 1 After buying the painting from Charles Fairfax Murray in June 1905, Thomas Agnew & Sons sold it to Gulbenkian in June 1907, only to buy it back and sell it again to Murray.
3 1 The Frick Art Reference Library copy of the Fairfax Murray sale catalogue has a handwritten notation listing Bousquet as the buyer.
4 1 Cailleux purchased the painting on the Parisian art market and did not pay attention to its owners prior to Ganay. He also did not know when the painting left Bousquet’s collection, indicating that Cailleux did not purchase it directly from Bousquet.
5 1 In January 1966 the Detroit Institute of Arts acquired the painting from Cailleux with funds provided by Kanzler, who also served as broker in the sale. Kanzler, however, had reservations about the work entering the museum’s permanent collection, and thus reserved the right to buy the painting back from the museum. The portrait was temporarily placed in the DIA’s study collection between 1966 and 1967 and was never officially accessioned. During those two years, the painting traveled back and forth between the museum and Kanzler several times before Kanzler officially purchased the painting from the DIA in June 1967.
6 1Thaw purchased the painting from Kanzler's estate through Mrs. Kanzler's agent.
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Provenance Footnotes
1 1The catalogue of the 1914 Galerie Georges Petit sale of the Fairfax Murray collection says that this painting was formerly in the Comte de Ganay collection. A June 4, 1903 sale of the Ganay collection contains a painting entitled “Portrait d’homme” with this description: “Vu de trois quarts à droite, il et coiffé d’une volumineuse perruque poudrée; il est envelope dans un manteau de velours rouge. La tête seule est du maître.” The painting is 75 x 60 cm; CMA’s painting is 80.6 x 63.8 cm. Timing-wise and based on the description of the painting’s composition, this would appear to be the CMA painting: Fairfax Murray sold the painting to Thomas Agnew & Sons in 1905, and so it is certainly feasible he would have purchased it in 1903. The dimensions, while not exact, are close enough to refer to the same work. However, the notation that only the head is the work of Largillière is puzzling, as CMA has not come across any research suggesting Largillière was responsible for the head only. Jean Cailleux, who handled the painting in the 1960s, wrote that he was unable to identify a catalogue which situates the painting in the Ganay collection, and that it does not appear in the June 3, 1903 sale. It is possible that the Galerie Georges Petit incorrectly assumed that the Largillière in the 1903 sale was the painting in Fairfax Murray’s collection, and that Ganay should not be in this provenance.
2 1 After buying the painting from Charles Fairfax Murray in June 1905, Thomas Agnew & Sons sold it to Gulbenkian in June 1907, only to buy it back and sell it again to Murray.
3 1 The Frick Art Reference Library copy of the Fairfax Murray sale catalogue has a handwritten notation listing Bousquet as the buyer.
4 1 Cailleux purchased the painting on the Parisian art market and did not pay attention to its owners prior to Ganay. He also did not know when the painting left Bousquet’s collection, indicating that Cailleux did not purchase it directly from Bousquet.
5 1 In January 1966 the Detroit Institute of Arts acquired the painting from Cailleux with funds provided by Kanzler, who also served as broker in the sale. Kanzler, however, had reservations about the work entering the museum’s permanent collection, and thus reserved the right to buy the painting back from the museum. The portrait was temporarily placed in the DIA’s study collection between 1966 and 1967 and was never officially accessioned. During those two years, the painting traveled back and forth between the museum and Kanzler several times before Kanzler officially purchased the painting from the DIA in June 1967.
6 1Thaw purchased the painting from Kanzler's estate through Mrs. Kanzler's agent.

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https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1970.31