Léon Pascal GLAIN (1723-1789) - Lot 57

Léon Pascal GLAIN (1723-1789) Portrait of a Woman, 1754 Pastel on paper H_61 cm W_49.5 cm Signed and dated "Glain 1754" at center left. A native of Bayonne, Léon Pascal Glain specialized in the portrait genre. He is probably the "P. Glain" who won second prize at the Royal Academy School in 1744, and first prize the following year. From 1752 to 1774, he regularly exhibited portraits at the salons of the Académie de Saint-Luc in Paris, where he was a teacher. He frequented Louis Vigée, father of Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, who seems to have been a close friend. Glain seems to have spent 1767 and 1768 in the Netherlands, then in Naples in 1769. He became a member of Florence's Accademia di Belle Arti in 1771. In 1774, at the age of 51, he married Marie-Élisabeth Tanche in Paris, herself a painter. Although less famous than Maurice Quentin de La Tour or Jean-Baptiste Perronneau, he seems to have built up a comfortable fortune by the time of his marriage, which suggests numerous commissions and a certain success with the Parisian bourgeoisie. Most of his portraits are characterized by a predominance of light blue, which lends a softness to the composition. We thank Mr. Neil Jeffares for confirming the attribution to Léon Pascal Glain. This portrait has been added to his Dictionnaire des pastellistes under reference J.351.2102. Expert: Cabinet Artéon