167 - François Louis GOUNOD (1758–1823)

François Louis GOUNOD (1758–1823) Portrait of Marie-Thérèse Charlotte of France, Madame, Duchess of Angoulême (1778–1851). Graphite on paper. Oval-shaped drawing, signed lower right “Gounod del(ineavit).”, forming a pair with the portrait of the Count of Artois (previous lot). The daughter of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette wears a Troubadour-style outfit with feathers in her hair and a ruffled dress. In a rectangular gilded wooden frame with palmette motifs. H. 16.2 x W. 14 cm. Frame: H. 34.5 x W. 31 cm. Provenance English private collection. The British provenance of these drawings suggests they were executed there before 1814, since the future Charles X and his niece and daughter-in-law, the Duchess of Angoulême, resided there in exile until 1814: Marie-Thérèse at Hartwell Castle, where she had lived since 1807 with her uncle Louis XVIII, while Charles-Philippe lived in London from 1799 onward, first at 46 Baker Street, then from 1805 to 1814 at 72 South Audley Street. History A genre and portrait painter, François Louis Gounod was a student of Nicolas-Bernard Lépicié (1735–1784) and entered the Royal Academy’s school in 1778. He was the father of the famous composer Charles Gounod (1818–1893). He exhibited at the Salon from 1799 to 1822, and notably presented a portrait of H.R.H. the Duchess of Angoulême (no. 459) at the 1814 Salon.