Preparation to the portrait of Anne Charlotte Roussel, Marquise de Courcy 

Curator: This is a drawing by Maurice Quentin de la Tour. It's titled "Preparation to the portrait of Anne Charlotte Roussel, Marquise de Courcy". He captured her likeness using pastel. Editor: Ah, I see it—a flash of personality caught mid-thought. It's less a posed portrait and more like glimpsing someone in a quiet moment. Curator: Precisely! These preparatory drawings offered La Tour a chance to explore the character and capture the nuances he wished to portray in the finished portrait. What we see here is not merely representation, but interpretation. Considering gendered power dynamics in portraiture, her gaze seems assertive, perhaps even challenging societal expectations. Editor: Yes, her expression seems a bit cheeky somehow, doesn't it? The casual, unfinished quality— the almost careless strokes around the hair, the slightly smudged pastel... It gives the impression that she is playful and independent. Almost like, "Oh, you’re painting me? Well, don't expect me to sit perfectly still!" Curator: It subverts that traditional male gaze, doesn’t it? La Tour was undoubtedly influenced by the intellectual salons of the time, spaces where women like the Marquise de Courcy actively engaged in social and political discourse. This work becomes evidence of female agency within a patriarchal system. Editor: That explains the lively eyes and that little upturn to her lips. It isn’t just a beautiful woman, it's a brilliant woman— and I feel a secret invitation into a fascinating conversation. I’m now really imagining being in that room, you know? Curator: Thinking about these layered social and historical dynamics makes you consider the full context within which the portrait, the commission, and even this preliminary drawing came to exist. How do you find your imagination interacting with the Marquise? Editor: You know, imagining the moment captured, I see a collaboration of wills rather than a formal, one-sided artistic act. Makes the portrait…alive. I like that, I like that very much! Curator: Thinking through her historical placement really deepened our insight, don't you think? Editor: Definitely something in it for everybody. And pastels - well they always make it pretty, don't they.