At over six feet tall, the colossal portrait will be on view at the Getty Center from October 3, 2023, through October 20, 2024.
La Tour was one of the most sought-after portraitists of his day and worked exclusively in pastel. For his portrait of de Rieux, he pieced together 16 sheets of paper to create the monumental work, employing techniques that captured his sitter’s likeness and details of luxurious objects in the background at a remarkable scale.
Having recently inherited a substantial fortune from his father, de Rieux commissioned his portrait from La Tour to signal his position among the French elite. The exhibition explores objects included in the portrait that convey his wealth and influence in great detail, from an elaborate clock that suggests he spent his leisure time reading, to a globe positioned at the west coast of Africa, signifying de Rieux’s family fortune derived from the sale and transport of enslaved African people to the French colonies.
“The portrait of de Rieux is a towering and intriguing pastel in the Getty’s collection and we are pleased to bring this focused exhibition to the public so audiences can learn more about this fascinating work of art,” says Casey Lee, curator of the exhibition. “We wanted to not only highlight La Tour’s technical achievements but shed a light on the complex and untold story behind this portrait.”
Untold Stories of a Monumental Pastel is curated by Casey Lee, curatorial assistant in the department of drawings at the Getty Museum.