ANDRÉ LÉON LARUE, dit MANSION

(1785-1834)

Portrait of young woman

1818

Signed and dated on the right: Mansion 1818

Watercolor and gouache, oval 7,7 X 6,2  cm.

Gold metal frame,  9,2 X 6,7 .cm

Very beautiful miniature signed lower right: Mansion 1818.

The young woman sits ¾ to the right and wears a white dress with a red shawl.

André-Léon Larue (called Mansion) was born in Nancy in 1785 and died after 1834 in Paris. He was pupil of his father Jacques Larue and of Isabey. For some time he worked for the factory of Sevres. He exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1808 to 1834. He went to London several times and exhibited there at the Royal Academy in 1829 and 1831. In 1822 his work "Lettres sur la miniature" appeared in French and in English. Schidlof says: "Mansion counts amongst the best French miniaturists of the 19th century"; he attains the same standard as Aubry, Jacques and Saint. The Wallace collection (London) houses six miniature portraits of young ladies by Mansion, all of large  dimensions, and signed. These miniatures, Schidlof writes, "already had at the time they were painted a considerable success".

His works are kept in the most important museums and private collections.

Very good original condition, flat glass, traces of dirt under the signature.

Price: 1600  €

BIBLIOGRAPHIE:

Bénézit, Schidlof, Bouchard, Blattel, Lespinasse, Foster.

MUSÉES :

MHL, Louvre, Paris ; Musée national de Stockholm, coll. Tansey, Celle ; Wallace coll; Musée Antoine-Lécuyer, Saint-Quentin ; Musée Briner et Kern, Winterthour; Musée d'art de Cincinnati ; Musée Nelson-Atkins, Kansas City.