Diagram
n.d.
Medium
Red Conté crayon with graphite on cream wove tracing paper (discolored to tan), tipped on cream wove card
Dimensions
21.9 × 33.7 cm (8 5/8 × 13 5/16 in.)
Classification
graphite
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
63973
Art Historical Context
Charles Meryon’s *Diagram* (n.d.) offers a rare glimpse into the preparatory world of one of 19th-century France’s most evocative printmakers. Housed in the Art Institute Chicago’s Prints and Drawings, this modest yet intriguing sheet measures 21.9 33.7 cm and employs red Conté crayon paired with graphite on cream w tracing paper—now gently discolored to tan and tipped onto cream wove card. The of tracing paper hints at its functional role, likely as a study or technical outline, allowing light to pass through for tracing or refinement. Meryon (1821–1868), famed for his haunting etchings of P...
About the Artist
Charles Meryon · 1821–1868
Charles Meryon, born on November 23, 1821, in Paris, was the illegitimate son of English physician Dr. Charles Lewis Meryon and dancer Pierre-Narcisse Chaspoux (stage name Narcisse Gentil) at the Paris Opéra. His half-sister Fanny, from his mother's prior relationship with Viscount Lowther, remained in contact after their mother's death in 1838. Raised partly outside Paris before attending Pension...