The Young Artist, Circa 1860, Striking Mysterious Sketched Self Portrait by by a French or Russian Master

19th century

Sold by Skippings Fine Arts

Description

It is nice to live with someone who has charisma, and that goes for a portrait, too. I have greatly enjoyed sharing a home for past last week with the young man presented here, with his thoughtful face and questioning eyes, who has oodles of it.

I call him a man as opposed to a gentleman, because - who knows? From what we can tell, his clothing, an open collar and some kind of garb, are casual, if not bohemian.

My first thought was that he might be an actor - he does have that movie star quality to him - but now I am fairly certain that we are dealing with the artist himself. The two-thirds view is a favourite in self portraits - allowing the painter to shift his gaze between looking glass and canvas. We can imagine the outline of an artist's palette where the painter made that brown mark at the lower left.

Beautifully sketched with great confidence, the work is unsigned, as clearly it was not created to be sold. It dates from circa 1860. The artist appears to be about thirty years old in his depiction, and would have been born around 1830. I believe him to be French, or possibly - on a hunch - Russian.

Measuring 32 x 24.4 cm,

the painting is presented in a hand carved antique frame which has light some wear and tear. The overall framed size is 49 x 36 cm.

Physical Dimensions

Height

32cm (12.60")

Width

24.5cm (9.65")

Depth

1cm (0.39")

Declaration

Skippings Fine Arts has dated this piece to the 1860s.

Reference Numbers

Sellingantiques Reference

SA923237

Dealers Notes

Nous parlons français, und wir sprechen auch Deutsch! Paintings may be viewed in Norwich and in Paris, as well as in London and Cambridge by appointment. Please contact us if you would like further details and images of an artwork.

Description

It is nice to live with someone who has charisma, and that goes for a portrait, too.

“

I have greatly enjoyed sharing a home for past last week with the young man presented here, with his thoughtful face and questioning eyes, who has oodles of it.

Skippings Fine Arts

fig 1. THE YOUNG ARTIST, circa 1860, striking mysterious sketched SELF PORTRAIT BY by a French or Russian master — fig 1. The Young Artist, Circa 1860, Striking Mysterious Sketched Self Portrait by by a French or Russian Master

I call him a man as opposed to a gentleman, because - who knows? From what we can tell, his clothing, an open collar and some kind of garb, are casual, if not bohemian.

My first thought was that he might be an actor - he does have that movie star quality to him - but now I am fairly certain that we are dealing with the artist himself. The two-thirds view is a favourite in self portraits - allowing the painter to shift his gaze between looking glass and canvas. We can imagine the outline of an artist's palette where the painter made that brown mark at the lower left.

fig 2. THE YOUNG ARTIST, circa 1860, striking mysterious sketched SELF PORTRAIT BY by a French or Russian master — fig 2. The Young Artist, Circa 1860, Striking Mysterious Sketched Self Portrait by by a French or Russian Master

Beautifully sketched with great confidence, the work is unsigned, as clearly it was not created to be sold. It dates from circa 1860. The artist appears to be about thirty years old in his depiction, and would have been born around 1830. I believe him to be French, or possibly - on a hunch - Russian.

Measuring 32 x 24.4 cm,

the painting is presented in a hand carved antique frame which has light some wear and tear. The overall framed size is 49 x 36 cm.