Anna Gault

ANNA GAULT DE SAINT GERMAN (Poland, 1760-1832).
Untitled.
Pencil on paper.
Signed on the back.
Measurements: 62 x 47 cm.
Anna Gault began her formation, from very young next to her father Józef Rajecki, who was dedicated to the painting profession and was recognized by his portraits. Later Anna left the family home as she became the protégée of King Stanis?aw August Poniatowski of Poland. Despite continuing to practice painting, she was not well received by the court, but in 1783, Anna enrolled in the art school for women at the Louvre (Paris). She studied with Ludwik Marteau and Marcello Bacciarelli in Warsaw; Jean-Baptiste Greuze and possibly Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun in Paris. Later, however, he became part of the circle surrounding Jacques-Louis David. It was in Paris that she married the miniaturist, Pierre-Marie Gault de Saint-Germain.
She became the first Polish woman to exhibit her work at the Salon in 1791. Although she sent many paintings to Warsaw, Bacciarelli considered few worthy of adding to the Royal Collection. Nevertheless she continued to paint for the Polish royal court circle and, in Paris, received numerous commissions from the local aristocracy, thanks to the reluctant influence of the king's agent, Filippo Mazzei. During the Reign of Terror, she fled Paris for Clermont-Ferrand.