LOUIS HERSENT (Paris, 1777-1860).
"Portrait of a Lady, 1827.
Oil on canvas (original canvas).
Signed with monogram and dated in the central area of the right margin.
Original frame.
Slight repainting and faults.
Measurements: 73 x 59 cm; 94,5 x 79,5 cm (frame).
It is not surprising that Louis Hersent received important commissions from the French high society of his time, who wanted to see themselves portrayed with exquisite workmanship. This female portrait bears witness to this, in which the painter displays a sensual and meticulous plasticity, skilfully working with glazes and transparencies in the gauze, in the silk qualities, in the velvet upholstery, and in the flesh tones, white and fine as porcelain, except for the slightly carmine cheekbones.
The painter Louis Hersent was a pupil of Jacques-Louis David. In 1797, he won the Prix de Rome for historical painting. He exhibited his work "Metamorphosis of Narcissus" at the 1802 Salon and continued to exhibit at the Salons, with rare interruptions, until 1831. Under his tutelage he taught a large number of painters such as Charles Gleyre, Hippolyte Flandrin, Auguste Dominique Mennessier, Jacques Raymond Brascassat, Édouard Viénot, August Thomas Pierre Philippe, Pierre Poterlet, Joachim Sotta, Henry de Triqueti, and Théophile Auguste Vauchelet among others. In part of his work, he painted themes emblematic of the Napoleonic Empire: "Achilles bidding farewell to Briseis" and "Atala in the arms of Chactas", both included in Charles Paul Landon's Annales du Musée, "Incident in the life of Fenelon" painted in 1810 and found in the Château de Malmaison and "Passage over the Landshut Bridge" from the same period as the previous one, both now in the Château de Versailles. However, Hersent's most typical works come from the Restoration period. "Louis XVI Relieves the Afflicted" (now in Versailles) and "Daphne and Chloe" were both exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1817. In 1819, with the work "The Abdication of Gustavis Vasa", Hersent won a medal of honour, although the painting, acquired by the Duke of Orleans, was destroyed at the Palais-Royal in 1848 and the engraving by Henriquel-Dupont is all that remains. Louis XVIII acquired his work "Ruth" in 1822 and became its main patron. He also awarded him the rank of officier de la Légion d'Honneur and pressed to have him admitted to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in France, where he replaced Gerard van Spaendonck. Hersent continued to enjoy the favour of King Charles X for whom he produced the work "Monks of Mount St Gotthard", exhibited in 1824. In 1831 he made his last exhibition at the Paris Salon with portraits of Louis Philippe I, Marie Amélie de Bourbon-Two Sicilies and Antoine d'Orléans. However, his masterpiece is probably the portrait of Spontini. After this date, Hersent stopped attending the annual exhibitions, although in 1846 he sent two or three excellent works to the salons of the Société d'Artistes. Hersent died on 2 October 1860, and his body rests next to his wife's in the Père-Lachaise Cemetery. His grave is adorned with a white marble medallion and a bas-relief by the sculptor François Lanno depicting the couple and their works.