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Portrait of Jean Honoré Fragonard

Jacques Antoine Marie Lemoine French

1797

Not on view

This portrait of Fragonard at the age of sixty-five came to light only recently. Drawn in July 1797 and exhibited in the Salon of the following year, it is done in a dark chalk technique (reminiscent of mezzotint engravings) that became popular in the last decade of the eighteenth century. Fragonard’s sympathetic and intelligent face shows the effects of the passage of time. He holds to his heart a porte-crayon, a drawing instrument with black and white chalk—a poignant expression of his legacy as a draftsman.

Portrait of Jean Honoré Fragonard, Jacques Antoine Marie Lemoine (French, Rouen 1751–1824 Paris), Black chalk, stumping, and highlighted with white chalk — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Portrait of Jean Honoré Fragonard

Artist: Jacques Antoine Marie Lemoine (French, Rouen 1751–1824 Paris)

Date: 1797

Medium: Black chalk, stumping, and highlighted with white chalk

Dimensions: 12 5/8 × 8 7/8 in. (32 × 22.5 cm)

Classification: Drawings

Credit Line: Private Collection

How Chalk Drawings are Made

How Chalk Drawings are Made

An illustrated explainer.

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Drawings and Prints at The Met

The Met's collection of drawings and prints—one of the most comprehensive and distinguished of its kind in the world—began with a gift of 670 works from Cornelius Vanderbilt, a Museum trustee, in 1880.