Artwork
Portrait of a Young Boy
Portrait of a Young Boy is a chalk drawing by the Romanticist artist Catherine Lusurier. It dates from 1767 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Catherine Lusurier’s 1767 drawing, titled Portrait of a Young Boy, is executed in red and black chalk on a sheet of heavy brown laid paper. The work is part of the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and exemplifies the artist’s skill in rendering delicate portraiture with a modest material palette.
Subject & Meaning
The sitter is a young boy with neatly arranged dark curls, dressed in a white‑collared shirt beneath a dark jacket fastened with a single button. The composition conveys a calm, introspective mood, suggesting the child is absorbed in quiet thought rather than engaged in any narrative action.
Technique & Style
Lusurier employs a combination of red and black chalk to model the figure, using subtle gradations of tone to create volume and a soft atmospheric quality. The heavy brown laid paper provides a warm ground that enhances the contrast of the chalk, while the restrained line work emphasizes the sitter’s features without overt detail.
History & Provenance
Created in 1767, the drawing entered the National Gallery of Art’s holdings through acquisition (specific acquisition details are recorded in the museum’s catalogue). It remains one of the few surviving works attributed to Lusurier, offering insight into her practice during the late eighteenth‑century French portrait tradition.
Artist & collection
Artist
Catherine Lusurier (1752 – 11 January 1781) was a French painter. Lusurier was a native of Paris; her mother, Jeanne Callot, was a dressmaker, while her father Pierre was a member of a family of hatters. She was the…
