Lot Essay
The Abbé Pommyer was one of the artist's closest friends and one of the executor's of his will. François Pommyer, Écuyer and Seigneur de Rougemont, was baptised on 23 March 1703 in the church of Saint-Merry in Paris. The son of Yves-Joseph Pommyer and Marie-Marguerite Lefèvre, his godparents included François Cadet, Secrétaire du Roi, and Marguerite Langlois, wife of the Procureur au Grand Conseil Jean-Baptiste Lefèvre. Like his father before him, François Pommyer became Trésorier général de France au Bureau des Finances d'Alençon, and married Elisabeth de Lorne, daughter of the Secrétaire du Roi François de Lorne and of Anne Papillon. He succeeded at his father-in-law's office on 2 March 1731. The witnesses present at his swearing-in were Louis Mettra, Curate of Saint-Merry, who had already officiated at a similar function for his father in 1719, Charles-Pierre Nay, Conseiller au Parlement, and Pierre Tauxier, Conseiller des Aides. François Pommyer died in office in 1779 and was replaced by Joseph-Jacques de Corsembleu.
A preparatory drawing for the present pastel with the chair in the background was in the collection of Madame Talmann in Paris, A. Besnard, La Tour, Paris, 1928, no. 384, fig. 191. Another version without the chair and of lesser quality is at the Musée Lecuyer, Saint-Quentin. A replica of the latter, formerly in the Decourcelle Collection, was sold at Drouot, Paris, 29-30 May 1911, lot 119, C. Debrie, Maurice Quentin de La Tour 1704-1788 au Musée de Saint Quentin, 1991, p. 156, illustrated. A superb drawing in black and white chalk on blue paper formerly in the Talmann collection is now in a private collection.
The date of 1783 on the label attached to the stretcher must be erroneous, as by this date the artist was suffering from senility and was no longer active.
A preparatory drawing for the present pastel with the chair in the background was in the collection of Madame Talmann in Paris, A. Besnard, La Tour, Paris, 1928, no. 384, fig. 191. Another version without the chair and of lesser quality is at the Musée Lecuyer, Saint-Quentin. A replica of the latter, formerly in the Decourcelle Collection, was sold at Drouot, Paris, 29-30 May 1911, lot 119, C. Debrie, Maurice Quentin de La Tour 1704-1788 au Musée de Saint Quentin, 1991, p. 156, illustrated. A superb drawing in black and white chalk on blue paper formerly in the Talmann collection is now in a private collection.
The date of 1783 on the label attached to the stretcher must be erroneous, as by this date the artist was suffering from senility and was no longer active.