Portrait of Nicole Richard as Child

portrait

Leaving his poverty-stricken home at the age of 15, La Tour first entered the workshop of an etcher in Paris, then worked in the studio of the painter Jacques-Jean Spoede. With a letter of recommendation from an English ambassador he went to England where he was much impressed by van Dyck's art of portrayal. On his return to Paris he took up pastel painting, possibly inspired by Rosalba Camera's success in Paris in 1720/21.

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About the Artist

Maurice Quentin de La Tour

1704 – 1788

He was, with Perronneau, the most celebrated French pastellist of the 18th century. He was born in St Quentin and went to Paris as a young man; after visits to London and other places he settled in Paris 1724-84. He soon found that the vogue for pastel portraits started by Rosalba Carriera in 1719/20 was still capable of exploitation and he devoted the rest of his life to it. His portraits are characterized by an extreme vivacity of handling - sometimes rather vulgar - and a firm grasp of character. As a very old man the study of politics drove him crazy, and he retired to St Quentin, where the largest and best collection of his works is to be found: it includes many studies and sketches which are sometimes superior to the finished portraits.

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