Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
1863
Medium
Pen and brown ink, on ivory wove paper
Dimensions
23.2 × 17.8 cm (9 3/16 × 7 1/16 in.)
Classification
pen and ink drawings
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
82049
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
This delicate pen-and-ink portrait by Henri Lehmann captures the renowned French Neoclassical painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres in 1863, when the elder artist was in his early eighties. Created on ivory wove paper with precise brown ink lines, the drawing exemplifies the intimate, observational studies favored by 19th-century artists for recording likenesses of colleagues and mentors. Lehmann, who trained under Ingres, employs a refined linear technique that echoes his teacher’s own emphasis on clarity and contour. Measuring just over 9 by 7 inches, the work belongs to the tradition of graphic portraiture that flourished in European academies. Such drawings served both as personal tributes and as valuable records of artistic lineage, preserving the features of influential figures like Ingres for future generations. Now housed in the Art Institute of Chicago’s Prints and Drawings collection, it offers visitors a quiet glimpse into the personal and professional circles that shaped 19th-century French art.
About the Artist
Henri Lehmann · 1814–1882
French, Kiel 1814–1882 Paris