Simeon Baldwin
Medium
mezzotint and engraving in black on wove paper mounted to brown wove paper
Dimensions
image (irregular): 5.56 × 5.56 cm (2 3/16 × 2 3/16 in.) sheet (trimmed to plate): 6.83 × 6.19 cm (2 11/16 × 2 7/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection (Gift of William Wilson Corcoran)
Accession Number
2015.19.1584.38.7
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
This intimate 1807 portrait of Simeon Baldwin exemplifies the refined printmaking techniques popular in the early American republic. Created by French-born artist Charles B. J. Févret de Saint-Mémin, the small circular image—measuring just over two inches—combines mezzotint’s rich, velvety tonal range with precise engraving lines. Printed in black on wove paper and mounted on a secondary sheet, the work achieves a delicate balance between soft shading and crisp detail, allowing Baldwin’s features to emerge with quiet dignity. Saint-Mémin’s approach reflects the period’s demand for affordable yet elegant likenesses among political and professional circles. Such prints often served as personal mementos or tokens of status, circulating widely before photography. The compact scale invites close viewing, encouraging visitors to appreciate the subtle textures and the artist’s skillful control of light and shadow within a limited format. Housed in the National Gallery of Art’s Corcoran Collection, this piece preserves a moment of early nineteenth-century American portraiture, where European technical traditions met the young nation’s growing interest in individual representation.
About the Artist
Charles B. J. Févret de Saint-Mémin · 1770–1852
**Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin** Born on March 12, 1770, in Dijon, France, to marquis Bénigne-Charles Févret de Saint-Mémin, a former conseiller au Parlement de Bourgogne, and Victoire-Marie de Motmans, a creole from Port-au-Prince, Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin received a military education at the École Militaire in Paris, graduating in 1785. He served as a cad...