Drouais specialized in portraits of French nobility. His career was launched in 1756, when he was summoned to Versailles to paint a double portrait of the infant grandchildren of Louis xv, two future kings. This moving portrait of the artist's wife, Anne-Francoise (1732-1815), captures her winsome, fresh countenance and open gaze. In the same year, Drouais also painted a more formal portrait of Anne-Francoise, now at the Louvre. -- Exhibition Label, from "Life Lines: Portrait Drawings from Dürer to Picasso."
Watermark: Letter "L" surmounted by crown, over "1742", placed between chain lines.
Chaikin, Nathan, former owner.
Stern, Anne Bigelow, donor.
Stern, Carl, donor.
Adams, Frederick B., Jr., ed. Fifteenth Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1967 & 1968. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1969, p. 119-120., repr. opp. p. 120.
A review of acquisitions, 1949-1968 / Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : The Library, 1969, p. 142.
Denison, Cara D. French Drawings, 1550-1825. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1984, no. 68.
Denison, Cara D. French Master Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1993, no. 67, repr.