Self-Portrait
A close friend and follower of Georges Seurat and a founding member of the Neo-Impressionist movement, Angrand was a master of Conté crayon, preferring to work in its limited palette of black, white, and gray. Here Angrand presents himself, not at all as an artist, but as a bourgeois dandy, impeccably dressed and smoking a cigar. Angrand’s technical ability in this self-portrait is stunning. In the words of an early critic, Angrand’s image seems to emerge from a “luminous mist.” Fellow Neo-Impressionist Paul Signac praised Angrand's crayon drawings: "his drawings are masterpieces. It would be impossible to imagine a better use of white and black. These are the most beautiful drawings, poems of light, of fine composition and execution." Many of the Neo-Impressionists were friends, as evidenced by the numerous extant Conté crayon depictions they made of themselves and of one another.
Artwork Details
- Title: Self-Portrait
- Artist: Charles Angrand (French, Criquetot-sur-Ouville 1854–1926 Rouen)
- Date: 1892
- Medium: Conté crayon (graphite border on all edges) on white laid paper mounted on board
- Dimensions: 24 x 17 1/2 in. (61 x 44.4 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
- Object Number: 1975.1.566
- Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection
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