CIRCLE OF JEAN-HONORÉ FRAGONARD (GRASSE 1732-1806 PARIS)

The Portrait of a man in a feathered hat has been associated with Jean-Honoré Fragonard's celebrated portraits in fancy dress, the so-called Figures de Fantaisie. Fifteen paintings are generally accepted as part of this loosely associated series (eight of them are in the Louvre; for a full list see P. Rosenberg, Fragonard, New York, 1988, pp. 255-93). All of the subjects are attired in fancy dress, in ruffs, plumed hats, swords and the like - described in the 18th century as 'à l'espagnole' - and they are painted with an unrivaled freedom of handling, and improvisational fa presto brushwork.
The Portrait of a man in a feathered hat shares many of the characteristics found in Fragonard's series: its half-length presentation, the sitter's swaggering attitude and theatrical costume, and the audacity of the brushwork in the costume are closely comparable to the Figures de Fantaisie. However, its oval format and unusual support - it is painted on paper that has been laid down on canvas - are not found in other works in that series. One might also recognize a smoother, more blended modeling in the face than is found in Fragonard's fantasy portraits. Although the Portrait of a man in a feathered hat was first published as the work of Fragonard by Louis Réau in 1956, and most recently by Barbara Scott in 1987 (loc. cit.), the attribution cannot be maintained, and the painting is not included in the catalogues raisonnés of Fragonard's paintings by Georges Wildenstein (The paintings of Fragonard, London, 1960), Jean-Pierre Cuzin (Jean-Honoré Fragonard vie et oeuvre : catalogue complet des peintures, Paris, 1987), and Pierre Rosenberg (Tout l'oeuvre peint de Fragonard, Paris, 1989).