Portrait of a Man
18th century
Medium
Graphite
Dimensions
6 x 4 15/16 in. (15.2 x 12.6 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1965
Accession Number
64.584.8
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the refined world of 18th-century French art with *Portrait of a Man* by Gabriel de Saint-Aubin, a masterful draftsman celebrated for his lively depictions of Parisian society. This intimate graphite drawing, measuring a modest 6 x 4 15/16 inches (15.2 x 12.6 cm), captures a gentleman in profile—a pose that echoes classical medallions and silhouettes, evoking elegance and introspection amid the Rococo era's playful sophistication. Saint-Aubin (1724–1780), part of a prominent family of artists, excelled in quick, observational sketches that blended whimsy with sharp social insight. G...
About the Artist
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin · 1724–1780
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin (1724–1780) was one of the most vivid and irrepressible graphic artists of eighteenth-century France, a tireless draughtsman whose sketchbooks and prints constitute an extraordinary visual chronicle of Parisian life during the Ancien Régime. Born into a family with strong connections to the decorative arts — his father was an embroiderer to the king — Saint-Aubin received fo...