A red chalk drawing completed by Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684–1721) dated 1709 may be the only known image of Claude III Audran. Although the identification of the sitter has been debated, Watteau worked as Audran's assistant for several years, and the drawing shows the subject devising the sort of arabesque design for which Audran was known. Watteau's sitter, seen in profile, sits on a cushioned stool, the luxuriousness of which, along with the sitter's formal attire—coat, breeches, and a periwig—would indicate the level of prestige Audran had attained by this date.

The small size of this drawing (7-15/16 by 5-5/16 inches) and the fact that there are no known portraits of Audran to which it might be compared correspond to the paucity of biographical information available on this artist. In 1906, Pierre Marcel, in his La peinture française au début du dix-huitième siècle, 1690–1721, noted the regrettable absence of details regarding Audran. Given these limitations, this chapter relates known facts drawn from previous scholarship and primary materials. From these sources, it is possible to piece together Audran's life and to begin to explain his career.

The biography begins with Audran's family background and training. The second part starts when Audran embarks on his independent career as a master craftsman in the 1690s, and the third section relates to Audran's later career following the reign of Louis XIV