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Maurice Quentin de La Tour was a French rococo portrait painter. He worked mainly with pastels. His father was a musician and trumpeter and is said to have disagreed with his son's choice of profession. Already at the age of 19, when he went to Paris, de La Tour saw himself as a painter. He studied for some time at a Parisian academy and with the Flemish artist Spoede and soon worked independently. He got to know the French painters Louis Boullogne and Jean Restout, who inspired him a lot. The Italian Rosalba Carriera had brought pastel painting to Paris, and de La Tour also devoted himself to this art of painting. His oldest known portrait was a painting of the philosopher Voltaire. After that he painted portraits of Louis XV, the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau and many more. In 1756 he painted a life-size portrait of Louis XV's wife Madame Pompadour. His portrait of the Dutch writer Isabelle de Charrière is now in the Musée d'art et d'histoire in Geneva, the portrait of the mathematician and physicist Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert is part of the collection of the Louvre. The "Prince of Pastel Painters" became one of the most popular painters at court and later even court painter to the French king. He practised this profession for more than 20 years.
In 1737 he exhibited a portrait of "Madame Boucher" and a self-portrait in the Paris Salon, followed in the next decades by a series of 150 portraits. In the same year he was also accepted by the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and received attention from the French court for the first time. De La Tour is described by his sitters, whom he received in his studio rooms in the Louvre, as a cheerful, intelligent and charming artist who could also be very eccentric. He also shows himself smiling in his self-portraits, while most of them pose for them. The artist Joseph Ducreux (one of his paintings recently became an internet meme) was among his pupils, as well as the portrait painter Joseph Boze and the classicist painter Adelaide Labille-Guiard.
De La Tour was able to earn a lot through his assignments. He founded a drawing school in his hometown of Saint-Quentin, donated for the poor and aging artists and craftsmen. He also acted as donor and advisor to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. At the age of 80, he retired to his hometown and was cared for by his brother due to a mental illness. He died a few years later. Many of his pastel works can still be seen in his birthplace in the Antoine Lécuyer Museum, other paintings are in the Louvre. As a memento, the National Bank of France printed his portrait on the 50-franc note from 1976 to 1992.
Maurice Quentin de La Tour was a French rococo portrait painter. He worked mainly with pastels. His father was a musician and trumpeter and is said to have disagreed with his son's choice of profession. Already at the age of 19, when he went to Paris, de La Tour saw himself as a painter. He studied for some time at a Parisian academy and with the Flemish artist Spoede and soon worked independently. He got to know the French painters Louis Boullogne and Jean Restout, who inspired him a lot. The Italian Rosalba Carriera had brought pastel painting to Paris, and de La Tour also devoted himself to this art of painting. His oldest known portrait was a painting of the philosopher Voltaire. After that he painted portraits of Louis XV, the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau and many more. In 1756 he painted a life-size portrait of Louis XV's wife Madame Pompadour. His portrait of the Dutch writer Isabelle de Charrière is now in the Musée d'art et d'histoire in Geneva, the portrait of the mathematician and physicist Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert is part of the collection of the Louvre. The "Prince of Pastel Painters" became one of the most popular painters at court and later even court painter to the French king. He practised this profession for more than 20 years.
In 1737 he exhibited a portrait of "Madame Boucher" and a self-portrait in the Paris Salon, followed in the next decades by a series of 150 portraits. In the same year he was also accepted by the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and received attention from the French court for the first time. De La Tour is described by his sitters, whom he received in his studio rooms in the Louvre, as a cheerful, intelligent and charming artist who could also be very eccentric. He also shows himself smiling in his self-portraits, while most of them pose for them. The artist Joseph Ducreux (one of his paintings recently became an internet meme) was among his pupils, as well as the portrait painter Joseph Boze and the classicist painter Adelaide Labille-Guiard.
De La Tour was able to earn a lot through his assignments. He founded a drawing school in his hometown of Saint-Quentin, donated for the poor and aging artists and craftsmen. He also acted as donor and advisor to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. At the age of 80, he retired to his hometown and was cared for by his brother due to a mental illness. He died a few years later. Many of his pastel works can still be seen in his birthplace in the Antoine Lécuyer Museum, other paintings are in the Louvre. As a memento, the National Bank of France printed his portrait on the 50-franc note from 1976 to 1992.