Artwork
Blake
Blake is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin. It dates from 1796 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art. Charles B.
About this work
Overview
Charles B. J. Févret de Saint‑Mémin’s print, titled “Blake,” presents a miniature profile portrait of its subject. Executed in black on wove paper, the image occupies a compact square of roughly 5.6 cm on each side, emphasizing intimate detail within a modest format.
Technique & Style
The work combines mezzotint and engraving, a hybrid process in which the artist first roughens a copper plate to hold ink for tonal areas, then incises lines to define contours. This dual approach yields a rich gradation of darks and fine linear definition, characteristic of Saint‑Mémin’s late‑eighteenth‑century practice.
History & Provenance
Created between 1796 and 1797, the print entered the Corcoran Collection, where it remains a documented example of the period’s portrait printmaking. Its attribution to Saint‑Mémin aligns with his known output of small, finely rendered likenesses produced for a European audience.
Artist & collection
Artist
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin (French pronunciation: ; 1770–1852) was a French portrait painter and museum director.
