Portrait of the Baroness Chassériau
Medium
Graphite on cream wove paper
Dimensions
31.4 × 23.5 cm (12 3/8 × 9 5/16 in.)
Classification
graphite
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
72529
Art Historical Context
In the hallowed halls of the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints Drawings department, Théodore Chassériau's *Portrait of the Baronessassériau* (1846) offers an intimate glimpse into the personal world of this prodigious French artist. At just 27 years old, Chassau—already celebrated as a pupil of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres—ured the poised elegance of the Baroness, likely a family member, in a delicate graphite drawing on cream wove paper. Measuring a modest 31.4 × 23.5 cm, this work exemplifies his mastery of portraiture during the Romantic era, blending Ingresque precision with emerging emot...
About the Artist
Théodore Chassériau · 1819–1856
Théodore Chassériau was born on September 20, 1819, in El Limón, Samaná, in the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo — present-day Dominican Republic — to a French father and a Creole mother. The family relocated to Paris in 1820, and the young Chassériau's exceptional talent was evident almost immediately. At just eleven years old, in 1830, he was accepted into the prestigious studio of Jean-Auguste-D...