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Lot Essay
The present bust is a superb evocation of the meeting of two major figures of eighteenth century Paris. Nicolas-Marie Potain (1723-1790) was one of the most important architects of Louis XV’s reign, and by 1788 was father-in-law of the sculptor Roland. Potain won the Prix de Rome in his youth, and during his stay in Rome (in 1738) restored the mouldings of Saint Peter’s Basilica. On his return to France in 1746, he entered the royal office of works, and was appointed building inspector at Fontainebleau. He became the principal assistant to Anges-Jacques Gabriel and worked with Gabriel on the construction of the Place Louis XV (now Place de la Concorde) and on Louis XV’s great project for rebuilding Versailles.
Roland was introduced to Potain’s daughter by Augustin Pajou, Roland’s first master and his chief influence, in 1782. Roland had just returned from his own study period in Rome, and the subsequent marriage was to prove a great benefit to his career. After Roland married Portain's daughter, the latter used his status in Paris to secure employment for Roland to decorate the private apartments of Louis XVI and procured him his own apartment in the Louvre.
Potain was therefore a great support to his son-in-law and this may explain the intimacy of the present depiction. Roland’s mastery of his medium is clear to see in the relaxed naturalism of the fresh surface. The turn of Potain’s head, and the spirited, penetrating gaze suggest that the bust was intended as a pendant to one of the many portraits Roland undertook of other members of his family.
A plaster bust by Roland depicting Madame Potain (inv. no. 4285) conserved in the Louvre bears the date 1788 and it is likely that the present bust of her husband was modelled at the same time. This was the most active period of Roland’s career, when he was at the height of his popularity. His debt to Pajou’s naturalistic and playful style is clear. However Potain’s dignified and upright pose and Roland’s Houdon-esque portrayal of Potain’s long hair, are quietly representative of the evolution of Roland’s style at this stage of his career, and show the influence of a neo-classicism that put the sculptor at the forefront of French taste in the late eighteenth century.
Roland was introduced to Potain’s daughter by Augustin Pajou, Roland’s first master and his chief influence, in 1782. Roland had just returned from his own study period in Rome, and the subsequent marriage was to prove a great benefit to his career. After Roland married Portain's daughter, the latter used his status in Paris to secure employment for Roland to decorate the private apartments of Louis XVI and procured him his own apartment in the Louvre.
Potain was therefore a great support to his son-in-law and this may explain the intimacy of the present depiction. Roland’s mastery of his medium is clear to see in the relaxed naturalism of the fresh surface. The turn of Potain’s head, and the spirited, penetrating gaze suggest that the bust was intended as a pendant to one of the many portraits Roland undertook of other members of his family.
A plaster bust by Roland depicting Madame Potain (inv. no. 4285) conserved in the Louvre bears the date 1788 and it is likely that the present bust of her husband was modelled at the same time. This was the most active period of Roland’s career, when he was at the height of his popularity. His debt to Pajou’s naturalistic and playful style is clear. However Potain’s dignified and upright pose and Roland’s Houdon-esque portrayal of Potain’s long hair, are quietly representative of the evolution of Roland’s style at this stage of his career, and show the influence of a neo-classicism that put the sculptor at the forefront of French taste in the late eighteenth century.