Adèle Romany

Trained in a segregated studio for women, Adèle Romany used her refined drawing skills and sense of color to create this lively characterization of dancer Auguste Vestris. At Vestris’s 1780 London debut, one critic raved: “It is impossible for words to convey an adequate idea of the strength, grace, and agility of this wonderful performer.” 

Romany enjoyed a long career and became known for her portraits of performers. She sent her first contribution to the Paris Salon in 1793, the same year she made this painting. 

–Maureen C. O’Brien, Frank Robinson Curator of Painting and Sculpture

Auguste Vestris (1760-1842) was the son of King Louis XVI's renowned dance master and inheritor of the title "god of the dance." His meticulously fitted broadcloth coat, spotless cravat, beaver hat, brilliant gold earrings, and riding crop show the early influence of English countryside attire. Vestris's embrace of superlative materials and expert tailoring embodies the Revolutionary French vogue for all things English, or Anglomania, which overshadowed the ostentation of court dress in favor of the subtlety of durable woolens. The early date of this portrait makes it clear that Brummell, who solidified his social standing in London in 1799, did not invent but rather refined and helped codify this style into a recognizable symbol of the dandy brotherhood.