Self-Portrait

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux French
Sitter Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux French

Not on view

Carpeaux was one of the rare sculptors who also excelled as a painter and draftsman, comfortably using a broad range of media to pursue his artistic vision. Here, he uses red, brown, and white chalks to produce a moody and masterfully modelled self-portrait. Carpeaux, like Courbet, was fascinated with his own image, creating at least 14 painted self-portraits and six on paper. This one is among his most haunting. Lit from above, with the artist’s features cast in shadow, it evokes Carpeaux’s psychological complexity, as both a genius and as an individual suffering from various maladies.

Self-Portrait, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (French, Valenciennes 1827–1875 Courbevoie), Red and brown chalk, heightened with white on tan paper

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