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Self-Portrait

c. 1812

Joseph Paelinck

(Belgian, 1781–1839)
Culture
Belgium, 19th century
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
Framed: 114 x 94.5 x 7.5 cm (44 7/8 x 37 3/16 x 2 15/16 in.); Unframed: 89 x 69.3 cm (35 1/16 x 27 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Elisabeth Ireland and Robert Livingston Ireland Jr., in memory of their mother, Mrs. Perry W. Harvey 1937.575
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
202 French Neoclassical Decorative Arts
Print

Description

Born in a small village in Belgium, Paelinck attended a local drawing academy as a youth. His skill earned him a scholarship to study in Paris where he worked with Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825), the leading French neoclassical master and official court painter of Napoleon I. Paelinck later moved to Rome to study ancient art firsthand and to participate in the city's lively international art scene. Paelinck's attire shows him as a dandy, wearing fashionable, subtly colored clothes. Over his black suit, he wears a box-coat—a garment having a wide, velvet collar originally associated with coachmen but popular among artists in Rome during the early 19th century. The coat demonstrates Paelinck's skill at depicting textures. Likewise, the simplicity of his desk and chair—based on ancient Greek and Roman models—reflects the highest fashion of the time.
A vertically oriented oil painting depicts a seated man from the waist up, turned slightly to our left. He has light skin tone and dark hair, looking at us. He wears a black jacket and a white, high-collared shirt with a large bow. A gray cloak drapes over his right shoulder and lap. His left hand rests on a chair back near a wooden desk with papers, sharply defined against the solid, dark green background.

Self-Portrait

c. 1812

Joseph Paelinck

(Belgian, 1781–1839)
Belgium, 19th century

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