FRENCH SCHOOL 19th CENTURY, SELF PORTRAIT OF A MINIATURIST, LARGE MINIATURE, CIRCA 1800

TECHNIQUE: Watercolor and gouache on velum, protected under glass

ARSTIST:

SIGNED:

FRAME : Original gilded wood and stucco frame.

PORTRAIT SIZE: 17x14cm

FRAME SIZE: 30x27cm

DESCRIPTION :

Rare self-portrait of a miniaturist,  end of the 18th century.

The artist shows himself at work, leaning over his articulated desk, an ivory palette is attached in the corner. On the "bouillotte" table, a glass of water and its saucer, the necessary brushes, scrapers and instruments.

The author has brilliantly given all the concentration necessary for a miniaturist, almost a painful concentration. Bent over his work, the artist is surprised and seems to straighten up painfully towards us. But in his gaze remains all the intensity of the task, all the acuteness necessary for a birth of a miniature.

Seized at the moment, he does not have time to welcome his visitor with a smile...he is disturbed.

The miniature is painted on a single ivory plate of an exceptional size of 17x14cm. Undoubtedly this work was intended for the major Parisian exhibitions named Salons. Indeed, the most talented miniaturists exhibited their self-portraits (so that the public could judge the similarity in place), and in a large sizes (in order to be seen more easily by visitors).

Painted around 1790-1800, the influence of Jean-Baptiste Jacques Augustin is notorious in this portrait. Although the author still has to be identified with certainty, he is one of the most talented artists of his time.


CONDITION: Cracks on the left and right border. The pictorial layer raised by place has been fixed and stabilized.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

PRICE: 6500€