This richly illustrated monograph accompanies the major exhibition Joseph Siffred Duplessis (1725–1802): The Art of Painting Life held at the Bibliothèque-Musée Inguimbertine in Carpentras from June 14 to September 28, 2025. Edited by Xavier Salmon, the catalog brings together nearly 200 paintings and drawings from French and international collections, including loans from the Louvre, Versailles, and the National Gallery of Canada, to celebrate the tricentenary of one of the great portraitists of the French Enlightenment.
Known to his contemporaries as “the Van Dyck of France,” Duplessis mastered the art of capturing both elegance and character. His portraits of Louis XVI, Benjamin Franklin, and members of the royal court reveal an exceptional sensitivity to light, texture, and human presence. This volume situates his work within the broader history of eighteenth-century portraiture, exploring his relationships with patrons, rivals, and the Académie Royale, as well as the technical subtleties that give his sitters their lifelike immediacy.
Through nine scholarly essays, the catalog traces Duplessis’s path from provincial beginnings in Carpentras to the heights of royal favor in Paris, offering new insights into the cultural and political role of portraiture under the Ancien Régime. Essays analyze his technique, iconography, and the evolution of his style from the intimate naturalism of his early works to the psychological depth and sophistication of his mature portraits.
Beyond its academic scope, the publication also highlights the exceptional holdings of the Inguimbertine Museum, home to the largest public collection of Duplessis’s works, making this catalog both a landmark research resource and a tribute to a painter whose art defined the visual language of late eighteenth-century France.
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