The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of May 6, 2026

A horizontally oriented drawing in black and white chalk on pink-washed paper features two oval profile portraits facing each other. On our left, Eleanor Ramsay Fitzwilliam, a woman with light skin tone, has tall curls secured by a headband. Facing her on our right, Georges Arnold Fitzwilliam, a man with light skin tone, wears a high-collared jacket over a neckcloth. Delicate chalk strokes define their features against the tinted background.

Portraits of Georges Arnold Fitzwilliam and Portrait of Eleanor Ramsay Fitzwilliam; a pair

c. 1790–1852

Charles Balthazar Julien Fevret de Saint-Mémin

(French, 1770–1852)
France
Black and white chalk on buff paper with pink wash in original frames
Alma Kroeger Fund 2024.35
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The physiognotrace device used to create this portrait consisted of a wooden frame within which a sitter posed in profile; the artist then peered through an eyepiece and followed the contour and features of the sitter’s face by maneuvering a graphite pencil attached to the mechanism.

Description

This pair of portraits depict George Fitzwilliam, an English merchant, and his American wife Eleanor Ramsay Fitzwilliam, who sat in New York for the French émigré artist Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin. Saint-Mémin used a recently invented mechanical device called a physiognotrace to trace accurate profiles of his sitters, which he then completed in black and white chalks. The technology enabled Saint-Mémin to establish a thriving business catering to prominent Americans—including Presidents Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison, Benjamin Franklin, and several Native American chiefs—at a time when he was in exile from the French Revolution. As part of each commission, Saint-Mémin also supplied etchings of the portrait in a reduced size, which could be given as keepsakes to family and friends.
  • ?–2024
    (Marty de Cambiaire Master Paintings & Drawings, New York, NY), sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    June 3, 2024–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Miles, Ellen Gross, and Dru Dowdy. Saint-Mémin and the Neoclassical Profile Portrait in America. [Washington D.C.]: National Portrait Gallery, 1994. p. 302, nos. 325 and 326 (illustrated by reproductions of prints).
  • {{cite web|title=Portraits of Georges Arnold Fitzwilliam and Portrait of Eleanor Ramsay Fitzwilliam; a pair|url=false|author=Charles Balthazar Julien Fevret de Saint-Mémin|year=c. 1790–1852|access-date=06 May 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2024.35