Man Seated at a Keyboard Instrument
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash
Dimensions
12 11/16 x 8 1/8 in. (32.3 x 20.5 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harry G. Sperling Fund, 1974
Accession Number
1974.46
Tags
Art Historical Context
François André Vincent’s *Man Seated at a Keyboard Instrument* (1774) captures a quiet moment of musical concentration through the delicate medium of pen and brown ink with brush-applied wash. Measuring just over 12 by 8 inches, the drawing uses fluid lines and subtle tonal washes to suggest both the figure’s posture and the instrument’s form, demonstrating the artist’s skill in conveying depth and light with minimal means. Created during the final years of the French ancien régime, the work reflects the period’s growing interest in everyday scenes of refined leisure. Vincent, a leading figur...
About the Artist
François André Vincent · 1746–1816
French painter and draughtsman. He was one of the principal innovators in French art of the 1770s and 1780s, in the field of both Neo-classical subjects and themes from national history. Comment on works: Portraits; History