Jacques-Louis David, 'Portrait of Jacobus Blauw', 1795

Portrait of Jacobus Blauw

Jacques-Louis David

Room 35

About the work

Overview

The Dutch patriot, Jacobus Blauw (1756–1829), played an important role in the foundation of the Batavian Republic in 1795. Although short-lived, it significantly contributed to the transformation of the Netherlands from a confederated structure into a democratic unitary state.

Blauw and the artist, Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825), shared the political ideals of the French Revolution that were sweeping across Europe in the 1790s, and the bond between the two men is evident in the relaxed intimacy of this portrait. David depicts the diplomat Blauw as he pauses while writing, his clothes and possessions painted in meticulous detail.

There are only two paintings by David in Britain – this, and the National Gallery’s Portrait of Comtesse Vilain XIIII and her Daughter.

In-depth

A man sits at a table, leaning forward slightly as he writes on a document. He pauses, as if to think for a moment or to acknowledge someone, his subdued but intense gaze producing an effect of great presence. He is elegantly dressed, but his plain clothes are not ostentatious. Unlike an aristocrat, he does not wear a wig; instead, it is his own hair that is powdered.

The simple format of this picture is similar to portraits David painted just a few years earlier, during the initial years of the French Revolution, in which an isolated figure is placed before a neutral background. However, the sparseness of those portraits is tempered here. Various objects – an inkwell, a gilt box, a quill pen – create a recognisable, everyday environment. David also paints Blauw’s clothing and accessories in meticulous detail: you can see traces of hair powder on the jacket’s collar and a hint of red reflected in its gleaming buttons. David’s skill with colour is especially evident as he coordinates the deep blue of the coat, turquoise-green of the tablecloth, pink handkerchief and hint of red chair fabric against a plain grey-brown background.

Jacobus Blauw was an important figure in the Dutch Patriotic movement, which helped establish the Batavian Republic in the Netherlands. Although short-lived, it contributed to the transformation of the Netherlands from a confederated structure into a democratic unitary state. Soon after the Republic’s formation, the French army invaded the Netherlands. Blauw was sent to Paris as the Dutch representative to negotiate a peace settlement – the Treaty of The Hague of 1795 – by which France recognised the new republic. While in Paris, Blauw most likely commissioned the portrait directly from David, as both shared a commitment to the republican ideals of the French Revolution. Their bond is evident in the relaxed intimacy of the painting, which makes this more than just a formal portrait of a civic official. Blauw’s new political status, following the treaty, is indicated on the paper, which bears the words J. BLAUW, ministre Plènipotentiaire aux États Généraux des provinces unies (‘J.BLAUW, minister Plenipotentiary to the Estates General of the United Provinces’).

David was the most important artist and propagandist of the French Revolution. Elected a Deputy to the National Convention, he had been instrumental in the abolition of the Académie and had voted for the execution of Louis XVI. A supporter of Revolutionary leader Robespierre, he was imprisoned twice after Robespierre had been deposed and only narrowly avoided execution himself. His signature, ‘L. David 4’, dates the work using the calendar created by the French Republic, revealing his continuing endorsement of the Revolution. You can see it within the folds of Blauw’s cape, in the lower left corner of the painting.

For David, the diplomat-intellectual Blauw, who was not yet 40, represented a new type of post-Revolutionary citizen – someone who maintained the aspirations of the Revolution and whose achievements were based upon ability rather than inherited status. Blauw, writing to David, thanked him profusely for bringing him to ‘life again on the canvas’.

Want to find out more?

Delve deeper and explore the catalogue entry for this painting.

Key facts

Details

Full title: Portrait of Jacobus Blauw
Artist: Jacques-Louis David
Artist dates: 1748 - 1825
Date made: 1795
Medium and support: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 92 × 73 cm
Inscription summary: Signed; Dated and inscribed
Acquisition credit: Bought, 1984
Inventory number: NG6495
Location: Room 35
Collection: Main Collection
Frame: 18th-century French Frame (original frame)

Provenance

With the sitter until his death in 1829; bequeathed to his only daughter, Cornelia‐Marguerite‐Jeanne de Blancheville (née Blauw) (1787–1847), and thereafter by descent in the family to Cornélie‐Pulcherie‐Augustine Clavière (1833–1891), Blauw’s last direct descendant, wife of the painter and collector Jean‐Jules Chevrier (1816–1883), whose daughter, Cornélie‐Joséphine‐Louise Chevrier (1855–1930), married Honoré Luce (1847–1932); recorded in 1913 with M. Luce‐Chevrier; ‘given’ by Henriette Luce‐Chevrier (Mme Georges Gruère) in 1968 to the Musée des Beaux‐Arts de Dijon, the ‘gift’ being rescinded following her title being challenged by members of the Chevrier family; sold in 1970 to the Wildenstein Gallery (the sale being unsuccessfully challenged by other members of the family); with Wildenstein & Cie, Paris, in 1978, when first offered to the Gallery for $1,200,000; acquired in 1984 (following a protracted negotiation for a French export licence) for $3,200,000, paid at the direction of Guy Wildenstein to Dr Adrian Hinderling, Zurich.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Humphrey Wine, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Eighteenth Century French Paintings’, London 2018; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Exhibition history

2017

The Dutch in Paris

Van Gogh Museum

13 October 2017 - 7 January 2018

Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux Arts de la Ville de Paris

4 February 2018 - 13 May 2018

Bibliography

1795

Paris, Bibliotheque de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, MS 318: Letter of Jacob Blauw to Jacques-Louis David, thanking him for his portrait, 1795
1853

F. Muller, Beschrijvende catalogus van 7000 portretten van Nederlanders, Amsterdam 1853
1867

Notes de David, Paris 1867
1880

J.-L. David, Le peintre Louis David, 17448-1825. Souvenirs et documents inedits, Paris 1880
1890

J.F. van Someren, Beschrijvende catalogus van gegraveerde portretten van Nederlanders, Amsterdam 1890
1913

Musée du Petit Palais, Exposition David et ses eleves (exh. cat. Palais des Beaux-Arts, 7 April - 9 June 1913), Paris 1913
1947

A. Staring, Les artistes francais et leurs modeles neerlandais, The Hague 1947
1954

L. Hautecoeur, Louis David, Paris 1954
1955

P. Mesplé, Ingres et ses maîtres, de Roques à David (exh. cat. Musée des Augustins, 14 May - 26 June 1955; Musée Ingres, 6 July - 21 August 1955), Toulouse 1955
1968

Catalogue des peintures francaises, Mu des Beaux-Arts de Dijon 1968
1973

D. Wildenstein and G. Wildenstein, Documents complementaires au catalogue de l'oeuvre de Louis David, Paris 1973
1980

A. Schnapper, David, témoin de son temps, Fribourg 1980
1984

M. Wilson, 'A New Acquisition for the National Gallery: David's Portrait of Jacobus Blauw', The Burlington Magazine, CXXVI/980, 1984, pp. 694-8
1985

National Gallery, The National Gallery Report: January 1982 - December 1984, London 1985
1985

L. Nanteuil, Jacques-Louis David, New York 1985
1986

Nederland verzamelt oude meesters: Tien jaar aankopen en achtergronden, Kunstschrift 6, n.p. 1986
1986

M. Levey, Director's Choice: Selected Acquisitions 1973-1986: An Exhibition to mark the Retirement of Sir Michael Levey as Director of the National Gallery (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 17 December 1986 - 15 February 1987), London 1986
1987

J. Leighton, Acquisition in Focus: Jacques-Louis David, Portrait of Jacobus Blauw (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 16 September - 15 November 1987), London 1987
1988

M. Regis, David: L'art et le politique, Paris 1988
1989

W. Roberts, Jacques-Louis David: Revolutionary Artist: Art, Politics and the French Revolution, London 1989
1989

P. Rosenberg and L.-A. Prat, Jacques-Louis David 1748-1825, (exh. cat. Musée National du Louvre, 26 October 1989 - 12 February 1990), Paris 1989
1990

A. Brookner, Jacques-Louis David, Paris 1990
1994

E. Langmuir, The National Gallery Companion Guide, London 1994
1995

Hôtel Drouot, Jacques-Louis David: Portrait de Ramel, Paris, 18 October 1995
1998

S. Monneret, David et le néoclassicisme, Paris 1998
1999

E. Baker (ed.), Contemporary Cultures of Display, New Haven 1999
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
2018

Wine, Humphrey, National Gallery Catalogues: The Eighteenth Century French Paintings, London 2018

Frame

This is an exceptional French Directoire frame, dating to the eighteenth century. The outer edge of the carved oak frame features a ribbon-and-stick motif. The frame’s hollow is adorned with a repeating acanthus-leaf-and-shield pattern, each leaf with a central recut vein (known in French as a ‘diamond’) which also covers the mitres. The acanthus leaves are edged with pearls, followed by a flat and a fillet. There is a ‘rais-de-cœur’ (lamb’s tongue) motif at the sight edge.

The frame underwent restoration before acquisition by the Gallery, with adjustments made to the open mitres and a new layer of oil gilding applied.

The frame is believed to be original to David’s Portrait of Jacobus Blauw.

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

Images

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