1781
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Half-length Portrait of a Seated Woman is a 1781 by Charles-Nicolas Cochin, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A woman sits sideways in a chair, her face turned toward us. She wears a soft cap and a ruffled dress with tiny flowers. One hand rests on the chair arm, the other holds a folded fan. Most of Cochin’s portraits show people in profile, like coins. This one is different—half the body, more relaxed. The woman’s name is lost, but her clothes say she was someone important in 1780s France. Look up other portraits from France, 18th century to see how artists dressed their sitters.
Cochin was one of the great portraitists of the 18th century because he made many drawings of some of the most prominent men and women of his time. Typically, his portrait drawings show the sitter in profile, like a bust on a coin or medal. However, toward the end of his life, he began to favor the half-length format we see here. Although he signed and dated this sheet, he unfortunately did not inscribe it with the sitter's name. Recently, two related drawings showing similarly dressed women seated in the same chair we see here sold at auction in Paris. All three sheets probably depict…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Charles-Nicolas Cochin was a French engraver, designer, writer, and art critic. To distinguish him from his father of the same name, he is variously called Charles-Nicolas Cochin le Jeune, Charles-Nicolas Cochin le…
See the richer artist pageYour cart is empty
Explore artworks →
![A Woman Wearing a Straw Hat [Madame de Pompadour?]](https://pub-3a17a9933ad74fb28aa30fa758592f23.r2.dev/artworks/a8849525097954a5/thumb.webp)
