229 - Attributed to Joseph Marie VIEN (1716–1809)

Attributed to Joseph Marie VIEN (1716–1809) Portrait of Edme Ponsignon (1724–1789), notary and tax attorney in Vitry-sur-Seine Pastel Height: 59 cm Width: 48.5 cm Trace of a signature in the center right and dated 1759. On the reverse, an old inscription: “Portrait of the notary Pontignon / in Versailles / signed Vien / dated 1759’ Provenance: Yves le Moyne auction, February 5, 1912; experts: Sortais, Duchesne, Duplan; auctioneer Baudoin, no. 65 (not reproduced) Bibliography: T. Gaehtgens and J. Lugand, Joseph-Marie Vien (1716–1809), Paris, 1988, p. 226 (work lost) Neil Jeffares, *Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800*, Unicorn Publishing Group, 2006, p. 539 (work lost), online version accessed October 13, 2026, no. J.7568.103 Portraiture and pastel are the two genres in which Joseph-Marie Vien, renowned for his history paintings depicting subjects from antiquity, excelled. We know of a few rare oil portraits by his hand, the most notable of which are the portrait of the Marquise de Migieu, held at the Nantes Museum of Art (1764), his self-portrait (Versailles, 1745), the portrait of the sculptor Saly (Copenhagen, 1745), the portrait of Jacques-Louis David as a teenager (Angers Museum of Fine Arts, 1765), and finally, the portrait of his son at the Fabre Museum in Montpellier (circa 1778). Neil Jeffares, in his *Dictionary of Pastelists Before 1800*, lists about ten pastels by Joseph-Marie Vien. Four of them are portraits, including, once again, that of Vien the Younger (Béziers, Museum of Fine Arts). We also know that four years before our work was created, Vien exhibited pastels— now lost—at the 1755 Toulouse Salon. Our portrait, formerly identified as Mr. Pomtignon, most likely depicts Edme Ponsignon (1724–1789), a notary and tax prosecutor in Vitry-sur-Seine. We thank Mr. Neil Jefares for his assistance in describing our pastel. Expert: Mr. Stéphane Pinta – Turquin Firm