Portrait de Mme Rouillé de l'Estang

Madame Rouillé de l'Estang's pastel portrait of 1738 at the Frick Collection is among La Tour's earliest surviving works in the medium that would define his career. In 1738 La Tour was still consolidating his position in Paris, having studied briefly in London and returned to France in the mid-1730s. The sitter was the wife of Antoine-Louis Rouillé, a French statesman who would later serve as Secretary of State for the Navy and as a diplomat. Pastel portraiture in 1738 was still largely defined by Rosalba Carriera's Venetian tradition, and La Tour's emerging approach — more analytical and less idealising than Carriera — was beginning to distinguish itself. The Frick Collection's holding of this early work places it alongside other important eighteenth-century French portraits in one of the finest small museums in New York.

Early pastel on paper, showing La Tour's technique in its formative stage. The surface is less densely layered than his mature work but already demonstrates the analytical precision and directness that would characterise his fully developed style. The palette is delicate with warm flesh tones set against soft background tones.