Self-Portrait in Painting Studio
1843
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
Artist
Camille Dolard
Camille Dolard (1810–1884) was a French artist, born in Lons-le-Saunier.
See the richer artist page1843
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Self-Portrait in Painting Studio is a 1843 by Camille Dolard, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a man sitting in a studio, surrounded by paintings and art tools. He's wearing a coat and holding a hookah. Check out the details in the studio, like the paintings on the wall and the furniture. This painting is interesting because it shows the artist's workspace and hobbies. To learn more about the use of light and dark in this painting, look up the technique: chiaroscuro.
Dolard, a portrait painter, may have offered photographs to prospective clients of lesser means. In this image, possibly made as an advertisement for his studio, he identifies himself as a painter, surrounded by the tools of the trade. The coat and the hookah suggest an interest in orientalism, a fashion that occupied many mid-19th-century artists. A remarkable technical achievement, this whole-plate image required Dolard to remain motionless for well over a minute, at least 30 times longer than the exposure for the smaller plates in the case below.
Many of the best early photographers were painters who put their training in figural arrangement, light and shadow, and composition to good use in the new medium.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Camille Dolard (1810–1884) was a French artist, born in Lons-le-Saunier.
See the richer artist page
