拍品專文
The sitter of the present pastel, previously unknown, has been identified as Marie Fel (1713-1794) due to the inscription 'Les yeux de l'Amour/un cantabille' found on the musical manuscript in the background of the composition. This refers to the title of a particular cantabille, or form of French cantata normally sung to the music of a guitar, composed by the sitter's brother Antoine Fel. Marie Fel was herself one of the most famous opera singers of the day, and it is not impossible that the song may have been composed in her honour. An added resonance is gained by the fact that the sitter was also the mistress of Quentin de La Tour, and both the title of the song and the drawing of Cupid upon the desk emphasize the amorous connection between the artist and his subject.
A distinguished member of the Académie Royale de Musique, Marie Fel pursued a long and brilliant career on the operatic stage. After studying the Italian style of singing with the wife of the painter Carle Van Loo, she made her debut on 29 October 1734 in the role of Venus in La Corte's Philomèle, followed by an appearance on 1 November of the same year where she sang in a motet by Moudouville performed at the Concert Spirituel des Tuileries. As her popularity rapidly increased she interpreted in 1743 the role of Hebe in Rameau's Les Indes Galantes, and became a regular performer at the Concerts chez la Reine where select members of the court were invited to previews or répétitions at Versailles of operas normally seen on the Parisian stage. Concurrent with her operatic career she regularly performed in concert with a repertoire of French and Italian cantabille airs, sometimes inserted between the acts of the longer operatic performance.
In 1752 Marie Fel performed the Salve Regina written especially for her by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as well as the role of Colette in Devin de Villo. In 1757 she appeared in performance with her pupil Sophie Arnould, and Arnould replaced her at the opera the following year. Fel continued to sing at the Tuileries, being particularly noted for her continuing interpretation of the motets of Moudouville, in which she had made her debut in 1734.
Marie Fel counted amongst her many admirers the Barons Grimm and Calruss as well as the artist Quentin de La Tour. Despite his noted shyness, La Tour was an assiduous habitué backstage at the opera, which is borne out by the many portraits of singers, dancers and actresses which he produced, including Mademoiselle Clairon, Mademoiselle Dangeville, Mademoiselle Sylvia Bathetti, Mademoiselle Camargo and Mademoiselle Sallé. From at least 1750 onwards La Tour became devoted to Marie Fel and referred to her simply as 'La Celeste' or 'La Divine'. After occupying a house in the rue Saint Thomas du Louvre, close to the artist's lodgings, Marie Fel bought a house in Chaillot, where La Tour stayed following the sale of his own house in Auteuil. In 1784 Maurice Quentin de La Tour draw up a will in which he left all his furniture and personal belongings to Marie Fel.
Until the reappearance of the present pastel the most famous portrait of Marie Fel by de La Tour remained that which was exhibited by the artist at the Salon of 1757 (A. Besnard, La Tour, 1928, no. 140). Five further portraits are known: one in the Musée Lecuyer in Saint-Quentin (ibid., no. 141), three formerly in the collection of Edouard Warneck (sold Paris, 3 May 1905, lot 112) and then the Harland Peck Collection (sold London, 25 June 1920, lot 39), and another recorded in the Blain Collection in 1877.
The present pastel can be dated 1752-3 from the style of dress closely comparable to that worn by Madame de Pompadour in La Tour's pastel of 1752. Stylistically the present portrait is close to the portraits of Madame Grunod de la Reynière (ibid., no. 176) and Lady Coventry (ibid., no. 77). Interestingly, the artist has worked up the drawing on five sheets pasted together with the central section inserted at a slight angle. A small touch of bodycolour is also visible on the blue ribbon around the neck of the sitter.
The size and finish of the present pastel make it one of the most ambitious works undertaken by the artist. It can be considered as an outstanding example of La Tour's large-scale virtuoso pieces, initiated by the portrait of the Présidente de Rieux (Musée Cognacq Jay, Paris) and culminating in the Portrait de Madame de Pompadour which was reportedly the most expensive picture commissioned in the eighteenth century
A distinguished member of the Académie Royale de Musique, Marie Fel pursued a long and brilliant career on the operatic stage. After studying the Italian style of singing with the wife of the painter Carle Van Loo, she made her debut on 29 October 1734 in the role of Venus in La Corte's Philomèle, followed by an appearance on 1 November of the same year where she sang in a motet by Moudouville performed at the Concert Spirituel des Tuileries. As her popularity rapidly increased she interpreted in 1743 the role of Hebe in Rameau's Les Indes Galantes, and became a regular performer at the Concerts chez la Reine where select members of the court were invited to previews or répétitions at Versailles of operas normally seen on the Parisian stage. Concurrent with her operatic career she regularly performed in concert with a repertoire of French and Italian cantabille airs, sometimes inserted between the acts of the longer operatic performance.
In 1752 Marie Fel performed the Salve Regina written especially for her by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as well as the role of Colette in Devin de Villo. In 1757 she appeared in performance with her pupil Sophie Arnould, and Arnould replaced her at the opera the following year. Fel continued to sing at the Tuileries, being particularly noted for her continuing interpretation of the motets of Moudouville, in which she had made her debut in 1734.
Marie Fel counted amongst her many admirers the Barons Grimm and Calruss as well as the artist Quentin de La Tour. Despite his noted shyness, La Tour was an assiduous habitué backstage at the opera, which is borne out by the many portraits of singers, dancers and actresses which he produced, including Mademoiselle Clairon, Mademoiselle Dangeville, Mademoiselle Sylvia Bathetti, Mademoiselle Camargo and Mademoiselle Sallé. From at least 1750 onwards La Tour became devoted to Marie Fel and referred to her simply as 'La Celeste' or 'La Divine'. After occupying a house in the rue Saint Thomas du Louvre, close to the artist's lodgings, Marie Fel bought a house in Chaillot, where La Tour stayed following the sale of his own house in Auteuil. In 1784 Maurice Quentin de La Tour draw up a will in which he left all his furniture and personal belongings to Marie Fel.
Until the reappearance of the present pastel the most famous portrait of Marie Fel by de La Tour remained that which was exhibited by the artist at the Salon of 1757 (A. Besnard, La Tour, 1928, no. 140). Five further portraits are known: one in the Musée Lecuyer in Saint-Quentin (ibid., no. 141), three formerly in the collection of Edouard Warneck (sold Paris, 3 May 1905, lot 112) and then the Harland Peck Collection (sold London, 25 June 1920, lot 39), and another recorded in the Blain Collection in 1877.
The present pastel can be dated 1752-3 from the style of dress closely comparable to that worn by Madame de Pompadour in La Tour's pastel of 1752. Stylistically the present portrait is close to the portraits of Madame Grunod de la Reynière (ibid., no. 176) and Lady Coventry (ibid., no. 77). Interestingly, the artist has worked up the drawing on five sheets pasted together with the central section inserted at a slight angle. A small touch of bodycolour is also visible on the blue ribbon around the neck of the sitter.
The size and finish of the present pastel make it one of the most ambitious works undertaken by the artist. It can be considered as an outstanding example of La Tour's large-scale virtuoso pieces, initiated by the portrait of the Présidente de Rieux (Musée Cognacq Jay, Paris) and culminating in the Portrait de Madame de Pompadour which was reportedly the most expensive picture commissioned in the eighteenth century