H. C. Dwerhagen
Medium
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Accession Number
S/NPG.74.39.15.21
Tags
Art Historical Context
**H. C. Dwerhagen** (1804) is a striking profile portrait print by Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin, a French émigré artist who fled the Revolution and settled in America. Capturing the merchant H. C. Dwerhagen, this work exemplifies Saint-Mémin's innovative approach to portraiture during the early Republic era, when likenesses symbolized status and prosperity among the growing merchant class. Saint-Mémin pioneered the physiognotrace, a mechanical pantograph device that traced precise profiles from life, which he then hand-colored in watercolor and engraved as affordable prints....