Portrait of a gentleman, half-length, in a red coat with a blue sash, holding a baton signed and dated 'AD Therbusch / de Lisiewski / peintre du Roy / de France / 1771' (lower right) oil on canvas 78 x 62.5cm

Provenance: Christie's, London, 28th October 1998, lot 269

Anna Dorothea Therbusch, born Lisiewska, initially trained as a painter under her father, Georg Lisiewski (1674-1751) a Berlin portrait painter of Polish stock. In 1761, she left Berlin for Stuttgart to paint at the court of Carl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg, before moving to Paris in 1765. She was elected a member of the Académie Royale in 1767. Therbusch befriended the art critic and philosopher, Denis Diderot, who favoured her work and she lived with him and other artists in Paris until 1769 when she returned to Berlin. She later became court painter to Frederick II of Prussia.

The painting is executed in oil on canvas support. The canvas appears to be unlined but has been heavily impregnated with wax on the reverse. There is a large double patch on the reverse of the painting securing an old damage. The paint layers are stable overall. There is extensive restoration in the sitter’s face and a few other localised areas of overpaint in the background and red jacket. The varnish layer is thick, glossy and even. There is a light layer of surface dirt present. Framed 90 x 74.5cm