Background
Ducreux was born in Nancy, France, on June 26, 1735. His father was also a painter.
Ducreux was born in Nancy, France, on June 26, 1735. His father was also a painter.
Joseph Ducreux went to Paris in 1760. He was trained as the only student of pastelist Maurice-Quentin de La Tour, who specialized in portraiture. In terms of Ducreux's oil technique, Jean-Baptiste Greuze had an important influence on the artist.
In 1769 Ducreux was sent to Vienna to paint his first portraits of Marie Antoinette, who the following year left the city and married Louis XVI of France. In the late 1780s, Ducreux painted "character" self-portraits. He used his own face to study various expressions (physiognomy), a popular field for artistic exploration. For instance, he painted himself in the middle of a large yawn. In another, titled Portrait de l'artiste sous les traits d'un moqueur, the artist guffawed and pointed at the viewer. Specializing in portrait painting, he generally did his early portraits in pastel. Other portraits created by Ducreux include those done of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos and Maria Theresa of Austria.
At the outbreak of the French Revolution, the artist traveled to London. There he engraved and published three of these expressive self-portraits and drew the last portrait ever made of Louis XVI.
In 1793 Joseph Ducreux returned to Paris. In Paris he became associated with Jacques-Louis David, a French painter in the Neoclassical style, who helped him continue an official career. Ducreux's was frequently visited by popular artists and musicians, who often commissioned portraits from him. Composer Etienne Nicolas Méhul, who was his friend, based the main character of an opera on Ducreux. The artist quite rarely signed his paintings, that's why many of his artworks remained wrongly attributed to other artists.
Joseph Ducreux was an outstanding painter of the 18th century. He was made a baron and premier peintre de la reine (First Painter to the Queen) in rewards for his services. Ducreux was given this appointment by Marie-Antoinette, though he was not a member of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, which was strictly hierarchical and such high posts usually were reserved for members of the academy.
Besides, his self-portrait, Portrait de l'artiste sous les traits d'un moqueur, has become a popular subject to internet meme. It is often used to create image macro.
Louis Antoine de Bougainville
Jean-Baptiste Brequin de Demenge
Charles Joseph de Pallu
Le Discret
Autoportrait en homme surpris et terrorisé
Self-portrait, yawning
Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria
Portrait de l'artiste sous les traits d'un moqueur
Portrait
Portrait of a Gentleman
Portrait of an Elderly Woman
Portrait of a Man
Pierre-Ambroise-François Choderlos de Laclos
The Jealous Husband
Portrait de Louis XVI
Ferdinand-Charles-Antoine-Joseph-Jean-Stanislas
Portrait of a young woman, at bust-length
Portrait de fillette tournée vers la gauche
Portrait de la mère de l'artiste
Portrait of a Man
Portrait de femme avec son chien
Portrait von Maria Theresia
Portrait of a young woman
Portrait d'homme au chapeau
Portrait of a young lady said to be Mademoiselle de Fonfrede
Kaiserin Maria Theresia in Witwentracht
Bildnis der Kaiserin Maria Theresia in Witwentracht
Portrait of a gentleman in a blue coat
Portrait of an ecclesiastic, bust-length
Portrait de l'Abbé Jacques Delille
Portrait de Benigne Joly de Gevrey
Jeune chanteur
Robert Ducreux fathered several children. His eldest son, Jules, was a painter and also an infantry captain. He died at the Battle of Jemappes, however, several of his paintings still exist. Ducreux's other sons died at a young age. His daughters, Rose-Adélaïde and Antoinette-Clémence Ducreux, became painters like their father.
