Lady in White Dress with Fan

Two years after receiving a first-class medal for his artistic skills on the occasion of the exhibition in the Paris Salon in 1828, Aubry created this impressive picture of a lady with a fan. The artist worked very carefully: the painting support consisting of several ivory sheets does not show cracks or any other damage.¹ He also proved his mastership in the different materials like silk, feathers and jewelry. It is possible that the lady's restrained but intense smile and her folded hands are inspired by Leonardo's Mona Lisa, of which Aubry owned a copy in oil.² Despite the varying quality of his works Aubry was a famous teacher and led a studio where many significant miniaturists of the 19th century learned the art of miniature painting.³ He rarely worked on commission but concentrated on painting portraits for the exhibitions in the Paris Salon. Comparing his work with other portraits by Aubry it can be seen that the lady's posture and look correspond to those of the lady in a white dress before a landscape painted in 1823.⁴ This portrait exceeds the quality of a large-scale portrait showing Baroness Benoist with harp (1814), which Aubry kept in his studio where it was copied by his students.⁵ Aubry exhibited his miniatures until 1838; this portrait is one of his last known works.⁶

B. P.