Marie-Suzanne Giroust
Encyclopedia
Marie-Suzanne Giroust, Madame Roslin (9 March 1734, Paris, France - 31 August 1772, Paris, France) was a French painter, miniaturist and pastellist. She was a member of the Académie de peinture et de sculpture
. She was married to the Swedish painter Alexander Roslin
.
and then of Joseph-Marie Vien
. The teachings of Vien, in particular, affected her own art greatly.
Giroust was active as an artist from the 1750s. She fell in love with the Swedish artist Alexander Roslin when she met him in the Vien studio in 1752. She wished to marry him, but was prevented from marrying him by her guardian and family, who disliked Roslin because he was poor and a Protestant. After rejecting all the suitors suggested to her by her guardian, she was allowed to marry Roslin after mediation from Roslin's patron, the Comte de Caylus. The marriage occurred on 5 January 1759. The Swedish ambassador was a witness to the marriage contract. The couple had three daughters and three sons.
Giroust was inducted in to the Académie de peinture et de sculpture in 1770. There is no information about her activity within the academy and no notes that she suggested or participated in anything regarding the management or the policy of the academy from 1770 to 1772
Giroust was a pastel
painter; Alexander Roslin once estimated that she was a better pastel painter than he was. She was admired for her truthfull way of portraiting skin and colours in her portraitpaintings. In 1771, she was admired in her exhibition of her painting of abbé Lemonnier. The "beautiful and strong colours" of her Portrait du sculpteur Pigalle , which is now in the Department of Graphic Arts at the Musée du Louvre, was praised by Denis Diderot
. She served as a model for her spouse as La dame au voile.
Académie de peinture et de sculpture
The Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture , Paris, was founded in 1648, modelled on Italian examples, such as the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. Paris already had the Académie de Saint-Luc, which was a city artist guild like any other Guild of Saint Luke...
. She was married to the Swedish painter Alexander Roslin
Alexander Roslin
Alexander Roslin was a Swedish portrait painter.-Life:Roslin was born on July 15, 1718, in Malmö, Sweden. In 1759 he married Marie-Suzanne Giroust. He plied his trade in Stockholm, Bayreuth, Vienna, Paris and Italy...
.
Biography
Marie-Suzanne Giroust was the daughter of Barthélemy Giroust, Jeweller to the King's Wardrobe (d. 1741) and Marie Suzanne Leroy (d. 1745). Orphan at an early age, she was raised by relatives. Her inheritance enabled her to study art, and she was a student of first Maurice Quentin de La TourMaurice Quentin de La Tour
Maurice Quentin de La Tour was a French Rococo portraitist who worked primarily with pastels. Among his most famous subjects were Voltaire, Rousseau, Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour.-Biography:...
and then of Joseph-Marie Vien
Joseph-Marie Vien
Joseph-Marie Vien , French painter, was born at Montpellier. He was the last holder of the post of Premier peintre du Roi, serving from 1789 to 1791....
. The teachings of Vien, in particular, affected her own art greatly.
Giroust was active as an artist from the 1750s. She fell in love with the Swedish artist Alexander Roslin when she met him in the Vien studio in 1752. She wished to marry him, but was prevented from marrying him by her guardian and family, who disliked Roslin because he was poor and a Protestant. After rejecting all the suitors suggested to her by her guardian, she was allowed to marry Roslin after mediation from Roslin's patron, the Comte de Caylus. The marriage occurred on 5 January 1759. The Swedish ambassador was a witness to the marriage contract. The couple had three daughters and three sons.
Giroust was inducted in to the Académie de peinture et de sculpture in 1770. There is no information about her activity within the academy and no notes that she suggested or participated in anything regarding the management or the policy of the academy from 1770 to 1772
Giroust was a pastel
Pastel
Pastel is an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are the same as those used to produce all colored art media, including oil paints; the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation....
painter; Alexander Roslin once estimated that she was a better pastel painter than he was. She was admired for her truthfull way of portraiting skin and colours in her portraitpaintings. In 1771, she was admired in her exhibition of her painting of abbé Lemonnier. The "beautiful and strong colours" of her Portrait du sculpteur Pigalle , which is now in the Department of Graphic Arts at the Musée du Louvre, was praised by Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie....
. She served as a model for her spouse as La dame au voile.
Works
- Henrik Vilhelm Peill (1766; private collection)
- Selfportrait (1770)
- Jacques Dumont (1770; Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon)
- Portrait de M. Pigalle (1771; LouvreLouvreThe Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
, Paris)
Sources
- Alexander Roslin. Editor: Magnus Olausson. Stockholm: Nationalmuseum (2007); ISBN 978-91-7100-771-1 (in Swedish)
- Roosval Johnny, Lilja Gösta, Andersson Knut(in Swedish): Svenskt konstnärslexikon: tiotusen svenska konstnärers liv och verk (English: Swedish Art dictionary), Allhem förlag. Malmö (1952-67)