Two portraits by Flandrin for the Getty

1/11/25 Acquisitions - Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum - Favourite pupil of the great Ingres, Hippolyte Flandrin distinguished himself both in the grand genre of history painting and in portraiture. He depicted a couple close to his master, Monsieur and Madame Alexandre Legentil, in two paintings designed as pendants (ill. 1 and 2), of which the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon holds preparatory drawings (ill. 3 and 4). Sold at Christie’s on 22 November 2024 and each fetching 69,300 euros (including fees), the two paintings have finally joined the collections of the Getty Museum, which recently announced their acquisition.
Madame Alexandre Legentil, née Marie Marcotte, was portrayed by Ingres when she was not yet two years old, on a sheet now held at the Yale University Art Gallery.…