James Campbell
c. 1804 (printed 1887)
Medium
mezzotint and engraving in black with chine collé on wove paper mounted to brown wove paper
Dimensions
image (irregular): 5.72 × 5.56 cm (2 1/4 × 2 3/16 in.) plate: 6.99 × 6.19 cm (2 3/4 × 2 7/16 in.) sheet: 7.62 × 6.83 cm (3 × 2 11/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection (Gift of William Wilson Corcoran)
Accession Number
2015.19.1584.56.8
Art Historical Context
This intimate portrait of James Campbell, created around 1804 by French émigré artist Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin, captures the refined elegance of early American portraiture. Saint-Mémin, who fled the French Revolution and settled in the United States, became renowned for his profile likenesses of prominent figures, including presidents, statesmen, and military leaders Though the identity of this particular sitter remains somewhat obscure, the work reflects the artist’s role in documenting the young nation’s emerging elite through accessible yet sophisticated prints. The p...
About the Artist
Charles B. J. Févret de Saint-Mémin
**Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin** Born on March 12, 1770, in Dijon, France, to marquis Bénigne-Charles Févret de Saint-Mémin, a former conseiller au Parlement de Bourgogne, and Victoire-Marie de Motmans, a creole from Port-au-Prince, Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin received a military education at the École Militaire in Paris, graduating in 1785. He served as a cad...