Henri-Pierre Danloux

A gift from the artist to L.M.J. Morel d'Arleux, (1755–1827) France;
By descent to Dr Morel d'Arleux, France, by 1910;
Anonymous sale, Paris, Galerie Charpentier, 7 June 1955, lots 28–29;
Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's East, 25 November 1998, lots 16–17.

R. Portalis, Henri-Pierre Danloux. Peintres de portraits et son journal durant l'émigration, (1753–1809), Paris 1910, pp. 15–18, both reproduced p. 18.

In this pair of paintings, Danloux illustrates the opposing identities of 'La Coquette' (The flirtatious woman) and 'La Travailleuse' (The diligent woman). The former young woman enjoys a stroll along the quay. She is dressed in eye-catching yellow and wears an elegant black 'manchon' over her hands. She looks out at the viewer with an enticing smile. Conversely, the other young woman is seated in an interior, focused on the task of mending her husband's breeches. A ball of thread rests on the wall beside her. Paintings such as these were appreciated by collectors in the eighteenth century for their amusing yet moralising undertones.