Price: SOLD
SKU: 98834
ARTIST: Charles Philippe Amedee Vanloo
PUBLISHER: A. Paris chez Marie Francois Drouhin, Editeur & Imprimeur. (here lacking)
MEDIUM: Aquatint engraving, printed in color and finished by hand,
DATE: c.1790.
EDITION SIZE: Oval, image 9 3/4 x 8 1/4" (24.9 x 20.7 cm).
DESCRIPTION: A beautiful portrait of Benjamin Franklin based on the painting by French portraitist Charles Phillipe Vanloo.<br><br> In this captivating image the engraver Pierre Michel Alix has altered the appearance of Franklin by removing the cloak and fur collar and cloak that was in Vanloo’s painting with a simple gray coat and white cravat. The result is a vivid and attractive portrait that draws attention almost exclusively to Franklin’s wise and witty face, which is rendered all the more engaging through Alix’s skillful use of nuanced flesh tones. <br><br> According to Sellers, Vanloo’s portrait was painted from life at the request of Franklin’s intimate friend, Madame Helvetius, between 1777 and 1785. “Amuse me,” Franklin is said to have told her friends, “or you will have the most sorrowful portrait of me.” Apparently they succeeded, as Franklin’s visage is enlivened by a slight smile, as he gazes intently at the viewer through his spectacles. Vanloo’s portrait hung for 150 years in the Helvetius family home, the Château de Lumigny, Seine et Marne, before it was purchased by a Parisian Gallery and sold to the American Philosophical Society in 1948, where it resides today. <br><br> Charles Philippe Amedee Vanloo (1715–1795) was a French genre and portrait painter, with a taste for scientific subjects. His “La Lanterne Magique” belongs to the National Gallery, Washington. His “L’Electricité,” exhibited at the Salon of 1777, features an electrical machine that is similar to one that appears in the mezzotint portrait of Franklin after Benjamin Wilson. <br><br> Pierre Michel Alix (1762–1817) was a master printmaker best known for his use of multiple-plate color printing techniques. Aka A la Poupe, a technique for making color prints by applying different ink colors to a plate. In this likeness of Franklin the quality of this form of printing as well as the mastery of the printmaker is here depicted in rich detail. <br><br>
ADDITIONAL INFO: Framed in a fabulous 1" period gold leaf molding with a matte black center. This frame has seriously warped with age which adds a wonderful “original” quality to the overall feel. Glazed with ultra-violet protective Plexiglas. Overall a truly historical and handsome piece.<br><br>
CONDITION: Very good condition and color. This impression lacks the lower publication line which is normally for several inches below the title. This is due to being framed.
REFERENCE: Sellers, Charles Coleman. Benjamin Franklin in Portraiture, pp. 391-394; # 1255 in The Hampton Carson collection of engraved portraits of Jefferson, Franklin and Lafayette. Auction rooms of Davis and Harvey, Philadelphia.
Login / Register
Basket
