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Portrait of a man with dark brown hair, looking towards the viewer while wearing a suit and bowtie.

Portrait of a man facing the viewer with an unemotional, somewhat smug, expression. His eyes, hair, mustache, and goatee are all a similar shade of dark brown and match the background. Pink blush stains his cheeks and ears and the right side of his face is cloaked in shadow. His collared shirt, bowtie, and suit jacket are made up of haphazard, formless brushstrokes which result in a largely vague outline of the clothing pieces. Despite this, the suit jacket appears largely green while the collar and bowtie are white and dark green respectively.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2021.184
People
Thomas Couture, French (Senlis (Oise) 1815 - 1879 Villiers-le-Bel)
Title
Self Portrait or Portrait of a Man
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
c. 1850
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/370167

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
42 × 33.8 cm (16 9/16 × 13 5/16 in.)
framed: 62.8 × 54.7 cm (24 3/4 × 21 9/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: verso, upper left of stretcher, black stamped: 3456
  • collector's mark: verso, upper left of canvas, stamped, : COLLECTION / M [illegible text]
  • label: verso, upper left of stretcher, printed text, cut from Manzi sale (Manzi, Joyant & Cie, March 13-14, 1919) : COUTURE / 28 Portrait de l'Artiste par lui-même / Il est vu de trois quarts à gauche. / Signé: T. C. Haut. 61 cent.; larg. 31 cent.
  • inscription: verso, right side of stretcher, graphite: No. 22
  • inscription: verso, center stretcher, graphite?: [obscured marks?]

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Michel Manzi, Paris, sale [Galerie Manzi, Joyant & Cie, Paris, March 13-14, 1919, lot 28]. [Frederick Mont, New York], sold; to Arthur K. Solomon, Cambridge, by 1966; The Arthur K. and Mariot F. Solomon Trust, bequest; to Harvard Art Museums, 2021

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Arthur K. and Mariot F. Solomon Collection
Accession Year
2021
Object Number
2021.184
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • Tableaux, pastels, aquarelles, dessins . . . composant la collection de feu M. Manzi, auct. cat., Manzi, Joyant & Cie (Paris, March 13-14, 1919), lot 28
  • Arthur K. Solomon, Marjorie B. Cohn, Angela Creager, and Robert Köhler, Arthur Kaskel Solomon: Transcripts of Interviews Sponsored by the Oral History Committee, Harvard Medical School, 1993-1995 (Boston, 1997), pp. 430-431

Related Works

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu