.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
A petit maître who operated outside the academic establishment during the reign of Louis XVI, Trinquesse was known for his portraits and genre scenes that drew on the tradition of the tableau de mode. He trained in Paris at the Académie Royale and in The Hague, and exhibited at the Salon de la Correspondance, an independent learned society devoted to the encouragement of the arts and sciences, organized by Pahin de la Blancherie and supported through subscriptions. During his lifetime, Trinquesse earned a respected position as a portraitist, counting among his patrons the Vicomtesse de Laval, the governor of Paris and the Duc de Cossé-Brissac, as well as artists, architects and men of letters. Recently, a spectacular, full-length portrait of Charles Grant, Vicomte de Vaux, attended by his groom with their horses was recognized as the work of Trinquesse by Dr. Colin B. Bailey, significantly enlarging our understanding of the artist's oeuvre (Christie's, London, 6 July 2006, lot 61 for £377,600=$719,189). In the nineteenth century, the Goncourt brothers collected Trinquesse's costume drawings, which, today, are probably the artist's most familiar works.
As John Collins observed in his thorough study of the present painting (op.cit.), this Interior with two ladies and a gentleman owes much 'to the portrayals of intrigues among the fashionable bourgeoisie by the earlier generation of French artists, such as de Troy, Watteau, and Boucher. But rather than being regressive in outlook, Trinquesse's painting anticipates the highly polished 'Metsu Manner' of the genre scenes of Marguerite Gérard and Louis-Léopold Boilly'. This intimate grouping of figures in a woman's boudoir draws attention to the presence of the male visitor who might represent a husband or fiancé, but who more likely appears to be, as Collins suggested in the Ottawa exhibition catalogue, a client being entertained by a courtesan at her morning toilette and in the presence of her maid. She listens to his entreaties while undertaking the intricate task of removing pins from a cushion and attaching them to her elaborate hat that is ornamented with ostrich plumes 'à la Henri IV', a style popularized by Marie Antoinette. The furnishings in the apartment are the height of Louis XVI style, notably the neo-grecque brule parfum (a freestanding incense burner) seen on the far right.
Trinquesse's Interior with two ladies and a gentleman is insinuatingly suggestive. 'Dramatic tension is created by the knowing exchanges among the protagonists, small gestures that enrich the erotic subtext', as Collins notes, 'the way the male figure leans forward and smiles, the woman's hesitant response, and the maid's furtive eavesdropping. What is being said and why is a matter of conjecture.' What is self-evident is the artist's technical brilliance and psychological insight, and a theatrical gift for comic intrigue that would have impressed even Beaumarchais.
As John Collins observed in his thorough study of the present painting (op.cit.), this Interior with two ladies and a gentleman owes much 'to the portrayals of intrigues among the fashionable bourgeoisie by the earlier generation of French artists, such as de Troy, Watteau, and Boucher. But rather than being regressive in outlook, Trinquesse's painting anticipates the highly polished 'Metsu Manner' of the genre scenes of Marguerite Gérard and Louis-Léopold Boilly'. This intimate grouping of figures in a woman's boudoir draws attention to the presence of the male visitor who might represent a husband or fiancé, but who more likely appears to be, as Collins suggested in the Ottawa exhibition catalogue, a client being entertained by a courtesan at her morning toilette and in the presence of her maid. She listens to his entreaties while undertaking the intricate task of removing pins from a cushion and attaching them to her elaborate hat that is ornamented with ostrich plumes 'à la Henri IV', a style popularized by Marie Antoinette. The furnishings in the apartment are the height of Louis XVI style, notably the neo-grecque brule parfum (a freestanding incense burner) seen on the far right.
Trinquesse's Interior with two ladies and a gentleman is insinuatingly suggestive. 'Dramatic tension is created by the knowing exchanges among the protagonists, small gestures that enrich the erotic subtext', as Collins notes, 'the way the male figure leans forward and smiles, the woman's hesitant response, and the maid's furtive eavesdropping. What is being said and why is a matter of conjecture.' What is self-evident is the artist's technical brilliance and psychological insight, and a theatrical gift for comic intrigue that would have impressed even Beaumarchais.