Art Institute of Chicago

Madame François Buron

Jacques-Louis David (French, 1748–1825)

Date

1769

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

France

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Following his father’s death in 1757, the young Jacques-Louis David was raised in the house of his uncle, architect François Buron, and his wife, Marie-Josèphe Fromont. Madame Buron was particularly supportive of David’s desire to become a painter, in opposition to her husband’s wish that he study architecture. In this intimate early portrait, David presented his aunt looking up momentarily from her reading to acknowledge the viewer with a warm reserve. Her glance suggests an affectionate bond between the painter and sitter and displays the ambitious young artist’s awareness of contemporary conventions for depicting middle-class women of sensibility.

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