Artwork
Morris
Morris is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin. It dates from 1800 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art. Created between 1798 and 1803, this small portrait measures just over five and a half centimeters on each side.
About this work
Overview
Created between 1798 and 1803, this small portrait measures just over five and a half centimeters on each side. Executed in black on wove paper, it belongs to the Saint‑Mémin Collection of Portraits and exemplifies the artist’s focus on intimate, finely rendered likenesses.
Technique & Style
The image was produced by combining mezzotint and engraving, a process that begins with a uniformly roughened copper plate for mezzotint and is then refined by incising lines for engraving. This hybrid approach allows the artist to render delicate tonal gradations alongside crisp, precise outlines, resulting in a highly detailed representation of the sitter’s facial features.
Subject & Meaning
The work depicts a single male figure, rendered with close attention to facial expression and texture. While no identifying inscription is present, the careful rendering suggests an intention to capture the individual’s character and social standing, a common aim in portraiture of the late eighteenth‑century French Enlightenment.
History & Provenance
Attributed to Charles B. J. Févret de Saint‑Mémin, a French artist active during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods, the print entered the Saint‑Mémin Collection of Portraits, a compilation of his own works. Its survival in this private assemblage indicates the artist’s practice of preserving his prints for personal or scholarly reference.
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.
