Self-Portrait
Carpeaux was one of the rare sculptors who also excelled as a painter and draftsman, comfortably using a broad range of media to pursue his artistic vision. Here, he uses red, brown, and white chalks to produce a moody and masterfully modelled self-portrait. Carpeaux, like Courbet, was fascinated with his own image, creating at least 14 painted self-portraits and six on paper. This one is among his most haunting. Lit from above, with the artist’s features cast in shadow, it evokes Carpeaux’s psychological complexity, as both a genius and as an individual suffering from various maladies.
Artwork Details
- Title: Self-Portrait
- Artist: Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (French, Valenciennes 1827–1875 Courbevoie)
- Sitter: Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (French, Valenciennes 1827–1875 Courbevoie)
- Date: ca. 1865
- Medium: Red and brown chalk, heightened with white on tan paper
- Dimensions: Sheet: 18 1/4 × 11 7/8 in. (46.4 × 30.2 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: Purchase, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation Gift, in honor of James Draper, 2014
- Object Number: 2014.604
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
1870–72
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
ca. 1867–68
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
19th century
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
ca. 1872–75
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
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