Portrait of Aignan-Thomas Desfriches (1715-1800)

The acquisition at public auction of this portrait - undoubtedly Perronneau's masterpiece - is a historic event in the museum's history. Having remained in the hands of Desfriches' descendants since the 18th century, coveted generation after generation by leading dealers and collectors (it fetched a record price of 412,500 euros), its entry into the Musée d'Orléans enriched the collections not only with its finest pastel, but also with the portrait of the museum's founder.

A wealthy Orléans merchant, Desfriches was one of those personalities who changed a town's destiny. In the 18th century, he was instrumental in turning Orléans into an artistic city, welcoming the greatest artists of the day for religious and private commissions. Initially launched on an artistic career that took him from Dominé's studio in Orléans to the classes of Nicolas Bertin and Natoire in Paris, he returned to Orléans in 1737 to take over the family business, retaining from his years in Paris a well-stocked address book and unfailing friendships, starting with Perronneau, Cochin and Nonotte. Having become a wealthy trader in products linked to the Loire trade (sugar, spices, textiles, probably slaves, the last link in the triangular trade), in 1786 he founded the Ecole gratuite de dessin with the Comte de Bizemont, and entrusted Cochin, the Académie's perpetual secretary, with the task of choosing a teacher in Paris to teach in Orléans. This teacher would be Jean Bardin, who in 1797 opened the Musée d'Orléans with Desfriches to collect works seized during the revolution.

Perronneau painted this portrait during his first long stay in Orleans, in 1751. Offered, like many other pastels, to Desfriches, a great art lover and collector, this portrait sealed a friendship that regularly took Perronneau to Orléans, where he found a clientele seduced by the nonchalance of his attitudes and the energetic touch of his portraits, in pastel and oil. However, it is in this portrait of Desfriches, more artist than bourgeois, with drawing board under his arm, that the sprezzatura dear to Perronneau finds its most perfect incarnation, reflecting the benevolent and spiritual personality of this great man of the Enlightenment.