Firmin Massot, Portrait of Jeanne-Elizabeth Tounes, 1700s-1800s, Oil on Wood, Framed

Portrait and genre painter born May 5, 1766 in Geneva and died in the same city on May 16, 1849.

He is the fourth child of André Massot, master and watchmaker merchant, and Marie-Catherine née Boisdechêne. His older sister, Jeanne-Pernette Schenker-Massot, is a miniaturist and is his first master. His grandfather, Jean Massot known as Champagne, contributed to the success of Jean Dassier, a Genevan engraver and medalist.

He was a student of Jacques Cassin and Georges Vannières at the Société des arts de Genève, then of Louis-Ami Arlaud-Jurine and Jean-Étienne Liotard. He exhibited a Study after nature at the 1st Geneva Salon in 1789. He received the Grand Prix after nature awarded by the Society of Arts in 1790. Until 1819, he painted numerous paintings in collaboration with his friend the landscape painter Wolfgang Adam Toepffer and the animal painter Jacques-Laurent Agasse. Executed for wealthy sponsors, these joint works show characters painted by Massot in full length against a landscape background, alongside their favorite animals. They are inspired by 18th century English masters.

In 1795, he married Anne-Louise Mégevand in Geneva, with whom he had three children.

In 1799, he was appointed Director of the Drawing Schools of the city of Geneva. In 1800, he was elected ordinary member of the Société des arts de Genève. Massot enjoyed immense success during his lifetime. His portraits are reputed to be very similar and of great technical skill. He is one of the main representatives of the Geneva School of painting.

He gives private lessons, notably to Nancy Mérien and Amélie Munier-Romilly.

In 1807 in Paris he approached François Gérard, Jean-Baptiste Isabey and Jules-César-Denis van Loo. In 1812, in Lyon, he met Fleury François Richard, whom he also met in Aix-les-Bains in 1813, in the company of Antoine Duclaux. In London, from June 1819 to April 1829, he became friends with Thomas Lawrence.

Painted or drawn, Massot’s portraits are rarely signed. They are mainly kept in museums in Europe and the United States. Around two hundred and fifty works are listed today Empire plaster frame and gilded wood
42 x 36.5 x 6 cm This piece has an attribution mark,
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