Raymond Auguste Quinsac MONVOISIN
(Bordeaux, 1790 – Boulogne, 1870)
 
Saint Therese  

Oil on canvas
81 x 65 cm 

Related work:  
  
Painting of the same dimensions, signed, kept at the Magnin Museum in Dijon 
Monvoisin is an interesting painter but relatively unknown in France, unlike in Latin America (particularly Chile) where he spent about fifteen years and where he is considered a major artist. Surprisingly, no biographical study on Monvoisin seems to mention our painting, the only certainty of which is that it was executed before 1847. Indeed, at the Paris Salon of that same year, the porcelain painter Antoine Kürten presented a replica, No. 1834 of the booklet, entitled Saint Therese, after Mr. Monvoisin. These porcelain replicas generally concerned masterpieces from the Renaissance or the 17th century, as well as contemporary paintings that had enjoyed a certain success.The fact that Monvoisin himself produced at least one autograph reproduction (our painting) of this portrait of Saint Teresa of Avila confirms the interest that his composition must have had. The painting in the Magnin Museum in Dijon is probably the main version, unfortunately undated, bearing the signature R.Q. MONVOISIN; it was acquired between 1922 and 1935, and Jeanne Magnin gives a particularly accurate description of it: "It is difficult to imagine Saint Teresa of Avila, this fiery soul, this devouring ardor, this mystical flowering of chivalrous Spain, in the guise of the too pretty nun, with round and fresh cheeks, with heavy eyelids devoutly lowered. The sweet sentimentality of the inspiration is of the same order as the quality of the impeccable, careful, caressed, badgered treatment: all that is completely outdated; but it would be somewhat unfair to ignore the painter's good faith in his effort to achieve the ideal glimpsed." We could add that this portrait, while belonging to the religious register, of a young woman, with delicate features, and a slightly perceptible smile, reveals a certain sensuality. In keeping with the ease of execution that the critics recognized in our artist, the softness of the face, the suggested environment, the search for a certain ideal beauty, the careful drawing and finish of our painting, denote the influence of Ingres.  Trained in Bordeaux by Pierre Lacour for several years, Monvoisin went to perfect his skills in the studio of Pierre-Narcisse Guérin at the Beaux-Arts in Paris, which he joined in 1816. He was a hard-working and stubborn student, even relentless in his work, who would win several internal competitions at the school and participate almost every year in the Grand Prix de Rome for painting. Having finally obtained second place in 1820, and a third place in 1821, it was thanks to the recommendation of Gérard and the support of Louis XVIII (of whom he had painted a portrait in 1820) that the State granted him a pension to go and study in Rome. There he met Domenica Festa, and married her in 1825, just before the young couple returned to Paris.He then enjoyed a certain success and developed his clientele, which included for example the Duke of Orléans, who bought several paintings with mythological or Italian themes. At the height of his career in the early 1830s, Monvoisin specialized in history painting and received commissions from the State, notably for the historical gallery of Versailles, and around 1840 he began producing a few genre paintings, while regularly executing numerous portraits.However, despite his glory (1st class medal at the 1831 Salon, Legion of Honor, etc.), he experienced health and marital problems, and especially a falling out since 1835 with de Cailleux, the secretary general of the royal museums; all this led him in 1842 to respond favorably to the requests (which dated back to 1838) of Chilean intellectuals and diplomats, with whom he had been close for about fifteen years, who suggested that he come and found a school of painting in Chile. He then spent fourteen years in South America, mainly in Chile, with the exception of two interludes in Peru in 1845, where he founded a school of painting in Lima, and in 1847; he also stayed 3 months in Argentina when he arrived on the continent at the end of 1842, and several months in Brazil, on his return from a short trip to France during the summer of 1847, where he was notably decorated by Emperor Pedro II. Considered a precursor of the Fine Arts in Chile, he trained many students there, and is said to have painted more than 500 paintings there; today there are approximately 300 paintings in Chile (including 70 in public collections), 65 in Argentina, 18 in Peru and 8 in Brazil.Monvoisin returned to France at the end of 1857; a now forgotten painter, he devoted himself to paintings with South American themes (landscapes, portraits) which he exhibited at the Salon and were reproduced in engraving by the publisher Goupil.
The last years of his life, spent in Boulogne sur Seine, were marked by spiritualism and interest in homeopathic medicine. An attempt to date our work around 1840 can be suggested, due to the Ingresque vein, but before the departure for America (the portraits made seem to be in a different style and only represent local personalities), and at a time when the theme of Saint Teresa of Avila was notably inspiring artists. Claudius Jacquand thus exhibited at the Salon of 1839 a Saint Teresa in Ecstasy (reprinted in engraving by Allais at the Salon of 1841); Alexandre Caminade a Saint Teresa in Prayer (55 x 36 cm, kept at the Semur en Auxois museum) at the Salon of 1841; between 1841 and 1847, 11 works on this subject were exhibited.Furthermore, we cannot ignore the influence of Gérard's version at the Salon of 1827 (it would be reproduced on porcelain by Marie-Adelaïde Ducluzeau and in engraving by Leroux at the Salon of 1831, and again on porcelain by Jenny Girbaud at the Salon of 1848!), in a more mystical and neo-classical style. A replica (oil on canvas, 73 x 60.5 cm, inv. 1938 F 721) of this painting, described as by Monvoisin, is kept at the Musée Magnin. We must go back to the Salon of 1810 and Monsiau to find a Saint Therese in ecstasy, and to that of 1785 and Taillasson to find a Saint Therese illuminated by divine light.