Mrs. Pierre Bacot (Marianne Fleur Du Gue)

Mrs. Pierre Bacot (Marianne Fleur Du Gue) is executed in pastel combined with red and black chalk on toned laid paper. The use of toned paper as a support allowed Johnston to work in a mixed-media handling, layering chalk strokes over the prepared ground to model flesh, fabric, and accessories. The composition centers on the sitter's costume details, including a chemise, shawl, and brooch, rendered with the soft blending and powdery surface characteristic of the pastel medium.

The sheet measures 27.9 by 21.7 centimeters, a modest scale suited to the intimate bust-length format. Stylistically, the work reflects the early eighteenth-century pastel portrait tradition, with delicate handling of the sitter's features and costume against the warm mid-tone of the laid paper support.

The pastel portrait of Mrs. Pierre Bacot (Marianne Fleur Du Gue) was created by Henrietta Johnston in 1708. The work is executed in pastel, red, and black chalk on toned laid paper. It is now held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is classified under The American Wing.

The portrait Mrs. Pierre Bacot (Marianne Fleur Du Gue) is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection and is cataloged under inventory number 1983.571. It has been exhibited in The American Wing since its acquisition and was featured in the exhibition "American Portraits from the 18th Century," which highlighted colonial-era portraiture.

Henrietta Johnston’s Mrs. Pierre Bacot (Marianne Fleur Du Gue) holds a distinctive place in early American portraiture as one of the few surviving pastels from the colonial period. As the earliest documented professional female artist active in British North America, Johnston’s work has become a key reference for scholars studying women artists and the development of pastel techniques in the region. The portrait’s inclusion in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s American Wing underscores its significance within the canon of American art, often cited in exhibitions and publications focused on early colonial portraiture.

The work’s delicate execution and intimate portrayal of its subject have contributed to its reputation as a refined example of early 18th-century pastel art. While Johnston’s broader oeuvre remains limited in number, Mrs. Pierre Bacot exemplifies the artist’s ability to capture both likeness and social status, influencing later discussions about gender, medium, and artistic practice in colonial America.

Created in 1709, Mrs. Pierre Bacot (Marianne Fleur Du Gue) is a pastel portrait by Henrietta Johnston, the first professional pastelist to work in the American colonies. The work depicts the sitter, Marianne Fleur Du Gue, seated against a muted greenish background. She wears a white shift covered by a dark shawl, her posture relaxed yet dignified.

Johnston executed the face with a soft modeling technique, utilizing red and black chalk alongside pastel sticks to blend skin tones directly onto the toned laid paper. This method creates a subtle, lifelike texture that avoids the harshness of line, emphasizing the sitter's calm and direct gaze. As one of the earliest surviving pastels from colonial America, the piece marks a significant moment in the introduction of the medium to the New World.

Johnston, who arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1706, established a successful practice painting the colonial elite. This portrait exemplifies her signature style, which combined the delicacy of French pastel traditions with the practical constraints of the colonial environment, securing her legacy as a pioneering female artist in early American art history.

The portrait aligns with early 18th‑century European pastel portraiture, drawing on conventions of modest dress and intimate presentation. Johnston’s adaptation of these conventions to the colonial setting illustrates the transmission of artistic practices from Europe to the New World, marking an early point in the development of an American visual culture.