Untitled (Portrait of a Woman)
Medium
Photograph on enamel in copper alloy frame with velvet liner
Dimensions
7.7 × 6.3 cm
Classification
Photograph
Department
Photography
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John Cook Memorial Fund
Accession Number
2017.8.2
Tags
male
About this artwork
Celebrated Parisian portrait photographer Etienne Carjat established his reputation through celebrity portraiture but his mainstay was images of middle- and upper-class sitters like this couple, presumably husband and wife. Seeking images more permanent than those made on paper, they paid extra to have their portraits vitrified on enamel. The process yields exquisitely detailed, durable images that appear as fresh as the day they were delivered to the sitters’ hands.