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Auguste Edouart Self-Portrait

Auguste Edouart Self-Portrait
Artist
Auguste Edouart, 1788 - 1861
Sitter
Auguste Edouart, 1788 - 1861
Date
1843
Type
Silhouette
Medium
Lithograph on paper
Dimensions
Image: 6.5 × 4 cm (2 9/16 × 1 9/16")
Sheet: 14.5 × 8.7 cm (5 11/16 × 3 7/16")
Frame: 37.8 × 30.2 × 3.2 cm (14 7/8 × 11 7/8 × 1 1/4")
Topic
Self-portrait
Auguste Edouart: Male
Auguste Edouart: Visual Arts\Artist\Painter
Auguste Edouart: Visual Arts\Artist\Silhouettist
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mrs. Tyson Lee
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.80.140
Exhibition Label
Auguste Edouart is best known for his elegant, hand-cut, full-length profile portraits that he made as he traveled the United States between 1839 and 1849. He emigrated from France by way of England and Scotland, bringing with him sophisticated ideas about portraiture.
Earlier silhouettes in America had been almost exclusively bust portraits and had begun to go out of fashion almost everywhere, but Edouart’s unmatched skill and attention to detail earned him the reputation as the most well-respected silhouettist of his time. Using embroidery scissors, he typically cut silhouettes by observing his sitters and moving the paper as much as his scissors, with his paper always folded to make duplicates.
Edouart created this timeless image that links him to the learned traditions of Greece and Rome. He chose to depict himself in classical garb with long curls and a beard, with white highlights to add definition and suggest gray hair.
Auguste Edouart es conocido sobre todo por los elegantes perfiles de cuerpo entero que cortó a mano en sus viajes por Estados Unidos entre 1839 y 1849. Había emigrado de Francia vía Inglaterra y Escocia, trayendo consigo sofisticadas ideas acerca del arte retratista.
En Estados Unidos, las siluetas anteriores habían sido casi exclusivamente de busto y ya comenzaban a pasar de moda, pero la destreza sin par de Edouart y su atención al detalle lo convirtieron en el más respetado siluetista de su época. Utilizaba tijeras de bordado y por lo general cortaba las siluetas mientras observaba a sus modelos, moviendo el papel tanto como las tijeras y siempre con el papel doblado para obtener duplicados.
Edouart creó esta imagen intemporal que lo vincula con las tradiciones eruditas de Grecia y Roma. Optó por representarse en atuendo clásico, con largos rizos y barba, añadiendo toques de luz en blanco para realzar la definición e ilustrar sus canas.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view