French School, mid 18th century, follower of Louis Tocqué
Portrait of a Gentleman with a Carnation
Oil on canvas

Unsigned. 20 x 16 inches (51 x 41 cm), the frame 24 x 20 inches (61 x 51 cm). Stepped gilt frame. Relined and stable, small losses and old restorations.

Everything is brown, black and cream except one thing. The carnation sits at the center of the canvas, the only saturated color in the picture, and the eye finds it before it finds the face.

He turns three quarters to the left against a plain brown ground, his powdered wig rolled at the sides and tied at the nape. He wears a dark coat over a white stock, with a deep lace jabot at the throat and a lace ruffle falling over the wrist, and the pink carnation is pinned to the breast. The lace is suggested in a few loaded touches over the dark ground, while the face is worked smooth and slow in successive glazes.