Portrait of a Man

baron Antoine Jean Gros

ca.1793–1800 · Black chalk with stumping · Drawings and Prints

Baron Gros was a highly successful student of Neoclassical painter Jacques Louis David (French, 1748– 1825). Gros received many commissions for large history paintings during the Napoleonic period, but eventually relied on portraiture to support himself. This signed pair of half-length portraits (see also 2014.271.2) offer few clues as to the sitters’ identities. Presumably a husband and wife, they sit in simple chairs against an unadorned background. Their frank and intimate expressions alone carry the force of expression.

Artist

baron Antoine Jean Gros

Date

ca.1793–1800

Medium

Black chalk with stumping

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Purchase, Harry G. Sperling Fund, Jean A. Bonna Gift, Brooke Russell Astor Bequest, and Charles and Jessie Price Gift, 2014