Portrait of M. de Viapre
Medium
graphite and wash on laid paper
Dimensions
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Classification
Portrait Miniature
Department
Drawings
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
The Edward B. Greene Collection
Accession Number
1941.570
Tags
About this artwork
Although it is impossible to say if it was always part of the artist’s process to execute a preparatory sketch prior to painting each miniature, we do know that John Smart retained many hundreds of these sketches. A group of preparatory sketches—of which this portrait is one—descended through the Smirke family after Smart’s daughter Sarah gave a sketchbook containing preparatory portrait studies to her friend Mary Smirke, sister of the celebrated Victorian architect Sydney Smirke. This book was ...