Self-Portrait

ca. 1854

Not on view

This recently rediscovered drawing is among the earliest known self-portraits by Henri Fantin-Latour, executed when the artist was still a teenager. He began his artistic training with his father, who was a portraitist, and from 1850-54 took courses at the Petite Ecole de Dessin. Toward the end of that period of study, he began producing self-portraits across a variety of media, a practice he sustained for almost a decade. This small drawing concentrates an intense gaze and dramatic lighting, which falls across half of the artist's face and hand resting on his chin, leaving the rest in shadowy darkness.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Exhibition History

Title: Self-Portrait
Artist: Henri Fantin-Latour (French, Grenoble 1836–1904 Buré)
Date: ca. 1854
Medium: Fabricated black chalk
Dimensions: Sheet: 4 15/16 in. × 4 in. (12.5 × 10.1 cm)
Image: 3 7/16 × 2 5/8 in. (8.8 × 6.6 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Mary Oenslager Fund, 2025
Object Number: 2025.239
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Henri Fantin-Latour

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Roses in a Bowl, Henri Fantin-Latour French, Oil on canvas — Roses in a Bowl
Henri Fantin-Latour
1883

Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French — Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century

Approach to a Mountain Village with Horsemen on the Road, Fra Bartolomeo (Bartolomeo di Paolo del Fattorino) Italian, Pen and brown ink, traces of black chalk; mounted on an album page — Approach to a Mountain Village with Horsemen on the Road
Fra Bartolomeo (Bartolomeo di Paolo del Fattorino)
ca. 1501

Asters and Fruit on a Table, Henri Fantin-Latour French, Oil on canvas — Asters and Fruit on a Table
Henri Fantin-Latour
1868

Osage Warrior, Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin French, Watercolor and graphite on off-white wove paper, American — Osage Warrior
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
1805–7

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