Drouais was the successor to Nattier as the chief portrait painter at the
court of Louis XV. He portrayed most of the leading figures of his age,
including the king and his two most famous mistresses, Madame de
Pompadour and Madame du Barry, as well as artists and leading members
of the professional classes.
Drouais was born in Paris, the son of the painter Hubert Drouais (1699 –
1767), who was famous for his miniature portraits. Drouais was trained by
his father and by other well-known painters, including Carle van Loo,
Natoire and Boucher. He became a member of the Academy in 1758, and
exhibited regularly at the Salon from 1755 to the year of his death.
Drouais was celebrated for his likenesses of aristocrats dressed in rustic
costume, a current fashion, and for his representations of children, often in
landscape settings.