Biography

Henri-Horace Roland de la Porte (also spelt Henri-Horace-Roland Delaporte or de la Porte), French painter. He was a pupil of Jean-Baptiste Oudry and was approved (agréé) by the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1761 as a 'painter of animals and fruit'. He presented his morceau de réception, the ambitious Vase of Lapis, Ornamented with Bronze and Placed near a Globe (Paris, Louvre), in 1763. This large painting is reminiscent of Oudry's work and depicts a collection of sumptuous objects against a simple cloth backdrop.

Roland de la Porte's later works are much more intimate in scale and approach and depict simple rustic objects in a restrained yet realistic fashion in a manner akin to Chardin, for whose works his own have been mistaken. In fact, his brushwork is dryer and more meticulous than Chardin's. Roland de la Porte followed his illustrious rival in choosing everyday objects. The same is true for the light source, which comes from the upper left-hand side, and throws the objects into relief, highlighting them against an indistinct background. His still-lifes brought the rococo paradox - the suggestion of messiness and informality accomplished with meticulous technique - to its zenith.