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François-Hubert Drouais (artist) French, 1727 - 1775 Family Portrait, 1756 oil on canvas overall: 244 x 195 cm (96 1/16 x 76 3/4 in.) framed: 281.9 x 224.8 x 21 cm (111 x 88 1/2 x 8 1/4 in.) Samuel H. Kress Collection 1946.7.4 Not on View |
François-Hubert Drouais dated his life-size informal family portrait 1 April 1756, thereby revealing a hidden meaning. In the medieval calendar New Year's Day coincided with the vernal equinox of 25 March, and 1 April, which marked the beginning of Spring, was celebrated with festivities and gift-giving. After the Gregorian calendar of 1582 proclaimed 1 January as New Year's Day, the tradition of exchanging springtime gifts on 1 April continued and is still celebrated today, albeit in a rather distilled form as April Fool's Day. The springtime exchange of gifts is elaborately displayed in Drouais' work: the little girl presents flowers to her mother, the husband reads a letter or sonnet to his wife, and the wife, while arranging flowers in her daughter's hair, also points to their child as a symbolic gift to her husband.
Drouais does not provide enough specific information for us to identify his sitters, but he does give an intimate view into the boudoir. Neither husband nor wife are fully dressed; she wears a smock to prevent powder from spoiling her dress, and he wears a silken housecoat embroidered with fashionable oriental motifs. Like his master Boucher, Drouais relishes in the display of contrasting tones and sumptuous colors.