Jacques-Louis David (French, 1748–1825)
Madame François Buron
INV-8863
Jacques-Louis David (French, 1748–1825)1769
Madame François Buron
Jacques-Louis David (French, 1748–1825) →18th CenturyNeoclassicismoil on canvasfrance
Date
1769
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
66.3 × 55.5 cm (26 1/8 × 21 7/8 in.); Framed: 92.4 × 81.6 × 10.2 cm (36 3/8 × 32 1/8 × 4 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Purchased with funds provided by Mrs. Albert J. Beveridge in memory of her mother, Abby Louise Spencer (Mrs. Augustus Eddy).
Following his father’s death in 1757, the young Jacques-Louis David was raised in the house of his uncle, architect François Buron, and his wife, Marie-Josèphe Fromont. Madame Buron was particularly supportive of David’s desire to become a painter, in opposition to her husband’s wish that he study architecture. In this intimate early portrait, David presented his aunt looking up momentarily from her reading to acknowledge the viewer with a warm reserve. Her glance suggests an affectionate bond between the painter and sitter and displays the ambitious young artist’s awareness of contemporary conventions for depicting middle-class women of sensibility.
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