A comprehensive exhibition dedicated to Joseph Siffred Duplessis (1725-1802), titled "L'art de peindre la vie" (The Art of Painting Life), is currently on display at the Bibliothèque-Musée L'Inguimbertine in Carpentras, France, running from June 14 through September 28, 2025. The exhibition presents a rare opportunity to view the works of this excellent but historically underappreciated 18th-century French painter, featuring high-quality paintings organized both thematically and chronologically.
While the exhibition itself deserves praise for its thoughtful presentation and the exceptional quality of the artworks on display, it suffers from a significant shortcoming in its accompanying publication. Unlike typical museum exhibitions that feature comprehensive catalogs explaining the curatorial decisions and providing detailed information about each work, this Duplessis exhibition lacks a proper exhibition catalog. Instead, visitors must rely on a biographical book that, while excellent in its own right, serves an entirely different purpose than a traditional exhibition catalog.
The published book accompanying the exhibition takes the form of a biography organized around the painter's various subjects and models, which represents its only connection to the actual exhibition layout. Although the publication successfully reproduces most of Duplessis's known works and helps restore proper recognition to an artist previously neglected in art historical literature, it appears to have been developed as an independent project rather than as documentation of the exhibition itself.
Visitors seeking detailed information about the displayed works will find themselves disappointed by the publication's limitations. The book contains no individual artwork entries, no list of exhibited pieces, no historical context specific to the exhibition, and no chronology. These omissions represent fundamental elements typically found in exhibition catalogs, making the publication feel incomplete despite its inclusion of a helpful index. The rushed nature of the publication becomes apparent through additional oversights, including the absence of a table of contents.
Among the notable works featured in the exhibition is Duplessis's "Portrait of Abraham Fontanel" from 1778-1779, an oil on canvas measuring 72.6 x 60 cm, from a private collection in Montpellier and classified as a historical monument. The exhibition also displays three portraits of Joseph Marie François de Lasson by Duplessis, demonstrating the artist's skill in capturing his subjects across multiple sittings.
Despite these catalog-related shortcomings, the exhibition successfully demonstrates why Duplessis deserves greater recognition in art history. His technical excellence and ability to capture the essence of his subjects make this exhibition a worthwhile visit for art enthusiasts, though time is running short as the exhibition approaches its closing date. The quality of the paintings themselves speaks to Duplessis's mastery of portraiture and his significant contribution to 18th-century French art, even if the accompanying documentation fails to fully support the scholarly presentation visitors might expect from such an important retrospective.
