L a - b e a u t é - s a u v e r a - l e - m o n d e ~ D o s t o ï e v s k i

L a - b e a u t é - s a u v e r a - l e - m o n d e  ~  D o s t o ï e v s k i



Sunday, November 12, 2017

Intimate hours - paintings by Nicolas Lavreince/Niklas Lafrensen


La Consolation de l'absence.

These charming, sometimes naughty, paintings by Lavreince - is it really any surprise that I use the French version of his name? - are painted in gouache, unless otherwise noted, and were all produced in the 1770s and 1780s. Often rather crude in execution, the compositions and, especially, the details are exquisite.

Lady Getting out of Bed.
Deux jeunes femmes dans un intérieur lisant une lettre.
A Lady Standing in an Interior Preparing to go Out With her Dog.
Ha! Le Joli petit chien.
Le Lever.
Ladies and Gentlemen Making Music in the Open Air.
Portrait presumed to be of Louise de Montmorency, princesse de Vaudemont-Lorraine.
La Soubrette Confidente.
Jeune femme assise dans un parc.
 L'Amour frivole (attributed to).
Jeune femme à sa toilette. The only work here that appears to be painted in oils.
Le Repentir tardif.
Le Petit conseil.
La Lettre.
Le Roman.
Portrait d'une dame buvant du thé.
Le Repentir tardif.
Lady Pulling on her Stockings.

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Niklas Lafrensen/Nicolas Lavreince (30 October 1737, Stockholm - 6 December 1807, Stockholm), Swedish genre and miniature painter. The son of the miniature painter Niklas Lafrensen the Elder, he received his earliest training from his father. The years 1762-1769 he spent in Paris, and he returned to the French capital in 1774, where for the next seventeen years he worked under the name Nicolas Lavreince. His genre scenes were very popular, the majority off them being reproduced by numerous engravers; it seems likely that much of his work in gouache was produced specifically for the purposes of profitable reproduction. He returned to Sweden in 1791, forced from France due to the French Revolution. In the latter part of his life he produced few works.

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A few examples of the engravings that were adapted - often quite freely - from his paintings. They're obviously reversed, as engravings usually were at this time.

Two versions of La Soubrette confidante.
Hand colored engraving of Ha! Le Joli petit chien.
Two versions of La Consolation de l'absence. Very different from the painting featured here.

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And, lastly, another detail from La Consolation de l'absence.




7 comments:

  1. Very delightful, thank you Stephen. I had not heard of this artist. Once again you introduce me to new and wondrous works of art.

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  2. Love these, of course. It was a very good time to be rich (other than the diseases, revolutions, lack of modern convenience, etc LOL)

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    1. Oh, yes - except, of course, for all those other things. ; )

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  3. The details of fashion and decor are endlessly fascinating. I see an echo of these in the 19th Century genre paintings of well-dressed ladies with little dogs, always a popular theme.

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  4. la personne sur le tableau "le roman" ressemble fort à celle présente sur le médaillon-portrait présumé de Louise de Montmorency : est-ce possible que ce soit la même personne ?

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    1. Peut être. Il a été presque impossible de recueillir des informations sur l'œuvre de cet artiste.

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