Portrait of Marie Antoinette (1775)

Jean-Baptiste André Gautier-Dagoty, or simply Gautier d'Agoty (15 September 1740, in Paris – 1786, in Paris) was a French painter who specialized in portraits.

Life and work

He was born to Jacques Gautier d'Agoty, a well-known engraver.[1] Four of his brothers became artists: Honoré-Louis, Jean-Fabien, Édouard and Arnauld-Éloi. As a Knight in the Ordre de Saint-Jean-de-Latran, he was often referred to as "Le Chevalier Dagoty".

Never popular within the court, his career appeared to receive a boost when Queen Marie Antoinette commissioned a portrait as a gift for her mother, the Empress Maria Theresa. But, when it was presented in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, it was harshly mocked because it was too artificial, at a time when a more natural look was in style. Two years later, the Queen offered it to Georg Adam, Prince of Starhemberg. It was with his family until it was acquired by the philanthropist, Paul-Louis Weiller. He donated it to the Musée de l'Histoire de France in 1954 as part of a major restoration. Many of Dagoty's works, including portraits of the Queen's sisters-in-law, are now in that museum.

Two of his portrait series, with mezzotints created by his father, were begun in the 1770s, but never completed: Gallery of famous men and women who have appeared in France and The French Monarchy.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Genealogy Dagoty", public access, on the website of M. Philippe Bouchard, descended through his great-grandmother from Jean-Baptiste André Gautier-Dagoty, father of Pierre-Louis Dagoty
  2. ↑ Arthur M. Hind, A History of Engraving and Etching, Courier Corporation, 2011 ISBN 978-0-486-14887-8

Further reading

  • Yves Calier, "Peinture et mobilier, remarque sur un tableau de Gautier-Dagoty: Marie-Antoinette en grand habit de cour", in: Versalia, No. 15, 2012.
  • Xavier Salmon, Marie-Antoinette: Album de la Exposition, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, RMN, 2008, pg.140 ISBN 2-7118-5531-7
  • Pierre Verlet, "La Chambre de Marie-Antoinette, gouache de Gautier-Dagoty au musée de Versailles", in: Bulletin des musées de France, April 1938, pp.49-51.

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