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Jean-Pierre de Bougainville

1760
Not on view
Born Louis Carrogis, the son of a cobbler, Carmontelle used his wit and talent to elevate his social position, eventually becoming employed in the d’Orléans court, where his duties included tutoring the duke’s son, designing gardens, and staging plays. As a draftsman, he left a legacy of 750 watercolor portraits, representing a broad swath of enlightenment society. The sitter, the scholar Jean-Pierre de Bougainville, was named to the Académie des Inscriptions and then, with the backing of Madame de Pompadour, elected to the Académie Française in 1754. De Bougainville would die at age forty, "a real loss for the world of letters," according to a manuscript penned near the end of Carmontelle’s life by his friend Richard de Lédans.

Perrin Stein, March 2015

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Jean-Pierre de Bougainville
  • Artist: Louis de Carmontelle (French, Paris 1717–1806 Paris)
  • Date: 1760
  • Medium: Watercolor over graphite and black and red chalk
  • Dimensions: sheet: 11 13/16 x 7 1/2 in. (30 x 19 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 2004
  • Object Number: 2004.475.6
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Woman Playing the Violin, Seen from the Back, Louis de Carmontelle French, Red and black chalk, graphite, gouache and watercolor
Woman Playing the Violin, Seen from the Back
Louis de Carmontelle
ca. 1758–59
Portrait of Louis-Philippe, Duc d'Orleans and His Son Louis-Phillipe Joseph, Duc de Chartres, Louis de Carmontelle French, Etching
Portrait of Louis-Philippe, Duc d'Orleans and His Son Louis-Phillipe Joseph, Duc de Chartres
Louis de Carmontelle
1759
Portrait of Pierre Victor, baron de Besenval de Brünstatt (1722-1794), Louis de Carmontelle French, Etching
Portrait of Pierre Victor, baron de Besenval de Brünstatt (1722-1794)
Louis de Carmontelle
1759–89
Woman Playing the Violin, Seen from the Front, Louis de Carmontelle French, Red and black chalk, graphite, and watercolor
Woman Playing the Violin, Seen from the Front
Louis de Carmontelle
ca. 1758–59
Madame la Marquise de Coëtlogon, Louis de Carmontelle French, Pencil(?), black and red chalk, watercolor with white chalk highlights
Madame la Marquise de Coëtlogon
Louis de Carmontelle
ca. 1777

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