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Authorship and the Woman Painter II: Two Case Studies - Page 2

© Jessica Cresseveur

While these similarities may seem convincing, other details must be noted. Valerie Mainz correctly points out that the Val d'Ognes portrait is "more contrived" than Melancholy and that "its luminosity is more transparent and complex," as opposed to Melancholy's simpler and more sculptural form. She also notes that the mannered rendering of Val d'Ognes and her "illuminated silhouette" are characteristics of the Primitifs,(3) former students of David who rebelled and took a rather bohemian approach to art. Although little is known about Charpentier, it can be concluded that she was not among this group. A second hole in Sterling's argument is the entry on Charpentier in Charles Gabet's dictionary of early nineteenth-century artists in France. Published during Charpentier's lifetime, Gabet lists a virtual catalogue raisonnée of her work in chronological order. The only description that even remotely resembles the Val d'Ognes portrait is that of a "girl drawing a landscape." First, since Val d'Ognes is in a darkened room, it is highly unlikely that she is drawing a landscape. Second, Gabet dates this particular painting at 1814, thirteen years after the production of the portrait in question.(4)

These are among the many reasons why the authorship of this particular portrait is again being challenged. The Metropolitan Museum website now attributes the painting to Marie Denise "Nisa" Villers, a student of Anne-Louis Girodet, himself a student of David and member of the Primitifs. Margaret Oppenheimer also argues that Villers is the likely producer. Villers exhibited her Etude d'une jeune femme assise sur une fenêtre in the same Salon.(5) With the exception of the background and shadowing, the absence of a sketchpad, and a slightly different positioning of the sitter's arms, the two portraits are highly similar. Unfortunately, the current location of Viller's Etude is unknown,(6) indefinitely delaying this attribution's definitive confirmation.

Case Study #2: Portrait of Dublin-Tornelle (c. 1799)

In 1943, the Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, Mass.) received this portrait of actor Dublin-Tornelle through a bequest of Harvard alumnus Grenville L. Winthrop. For twenty-eight years as part of the Fogg's permanent collection, the portrait was believed to be a David. One reason for the misattribution was David's forged signature, dated by scholars at approximately 1851,(7) twenty-six years after his death. A second reason is the Davidian quality of the sitter's powerful presence before a plain dark background.(8) A third possible reason, often overlooked by scholars is that the portrait was part of a collection which also contained David's Portrait of Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès, whose sitter's clothing and tousled hair resemble those of Dublin-Tornelle.

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