Marie-Suzanne Giroust

Marie-Suzanne Giroust Roslin
Portrait by Alexander Roslin, 1770
Born(1734-03-09)9 March 1734
Paris, France
Died31 August 1772(1772-08-31) (aged 38)
Paris, France
EducationMaurice Quentin de La Tour, Joseph-Marie Vien
Known forPastel
Spouse
(m. 1759)
Children6 including:
Augustine-Suzanne Roslin (1760–1831)
Alexandrine Elisabeth Roslin (1761–1797)
Alexandre Antoine Roslin (1764–1799)
Joseph Alexandre Roslin (1772–1794)

Marie-Suzanne Giroust (9 March 1734 – 31 August 1772), known as Madame Roslin, was a French painter, miniaturist, and pastellist, known for her portraits. She was a member of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. Only a small number of her works have been identified.[1]

Biography

Marie-Suzanne Giroust was born and lived her whole life in Paris. She was the daughter of Barthélemy Giroust (d. 1741), Jeweller to Le Garde-robe de roi (the King's Wardrobe) and Marie Suzanne Le Roy (d. 1745).[2] Orphaned at an early age, she was raised by relatives.[2] She studied art under Maurice Quentin de La Tour and then of Joseph-Marie Vien.[1] The teachings of Vien, in particular, affected her own art greatly.[3]

Giroust was active as an artist from the 1750s. She met the Swedish artist Alexander Roslin at Vien's studio in 1752.[2] She wished to marry him, but was prevented by her guardian and family, who disliked Roslin because he was poor and a Protestant.[3] After rejecting the suitors suggested by her guardian, she was allowed to marry Roslin after mediation from Roslin's patron, the Comte de Caylus.[2] The marriage occurred on 5 January 1759, with the Swedish ambassador as a witness. The couple had three daughters and three sons.[3]

Giroust was a pastel painter. Her husband once estimated that she was a better pastellist than he was.[3] In 1770, Giroust was admitted to the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture in Paris.[4] She was one of only fifteen women to be accepted as full academicians in the 145-year history of the institution.[4] Her reception piece, Portrait of the Sculptor Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (1770), was praised by Denis Diderot in 1771 for its "beautiful and strong colors."[5]

Giroust served as a model for La Dame au voile (The Lady with the Veil) (1768), painted by her husband. She also appears in Alexander Roslin's group portrait The Artist and His Wife Marie-Suzanne Giroust Portraying Henrik Wilhelm Peill (1767).[6]

Marie-Suzanne Giroust died of breast cancer in 1772, aged 38.[2]

Notable works

References

  1. ^ a b Jeffaries, Neil (2006). Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800 (PDF). Norwich: Unicorn Press.
  2. ^ a b c d e Olausson, Magnus; Salmon, Xavier, eds. (2007). Alexander Roslin. Stockholm: Nationalmuseum.
  3. ^ a b c d Roosval, Johnny; Gösta, Lilja; Knut, Andersson (1952–1967). Svenskt konstnärslexikon: tiotusen svenska konstnärers liv och verk. Malmö: Allhem förlag.
  4. ^ a b Fidière, Octave (1885). Les Femmes artistes à l'Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. Paris: Charavay Frères.
  5. ^ Assézat, Jules; Tourneux, Maurice Tourneux, eds. (1876). Denis Diderot: Complete Works. p. 513.
  6. ^ Olausson, Magnus (2013). "Roslin's Self-Portrait with his Wife Marie Suzanne Giroust Painting a Portrait of Henrik Wilhelm Peill" (PDF). Art Bulletin of the Nationalmuseum. 20: 17–18.