Portrait of a musician - Workshop of Charles-Antoine Coypel (1694 - 1752)

French school of the 18th century. Oil on canvas.
An elegant young woman opens her score book, revising the notes of the song or music she is about to play. This portrait, of great refinement and sensitivity, is the work of an 18th-century French painter from the immediate circle of Charles-Antoine Coypel. It is probably a painting from his studio. The painter's world is perceptible: movement and theatricality are the order of the day. Bathed in light, as if to better appreciate the delicacy of the face and the texture of the flesh, our musician stands out from the ochre-brown background thanks to the backlighting. Could the young woman used as a model be an actress or musician whom Coypel came across in his work as a playwright?

The richly carved and gilded wood frame with flowered corners from the Louis XIV period sets off this superb painting to perfection.
Dimensions: 76 x 59 cm view - 99 x 83 cm with frame

Charles-Antoine Coypel (Paris 11.07.1694 - id. 14.06.1752) belonged to a dynasty of painters. He was the grandson of Noël Coypel, the son and pupil of Antoine, and nephew of Noël Nicolas. Accepted into the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture at the age of 21, he became director in 1747 and was appointed Premier peintre du Roi the same year.
In response to commissions, he painted many religious subjects, but it was his highly original portraits that made his reputation. They reflect his keen sense of observation and his taste for theater. Indeed, in addition to his work as a painter, he wrote numerous plays. His subjects don't seem to be posing, but are often busy - sometimes holding a book or a pen, sometimes sketching a gesture - and are sometimes imbued with a certain melancholy. Charles-Antoine Coypel brings theater into painting.