Artist (or Assistant) with Pipe

1855

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Impressionism Realism Early 19th Century

Dominant colour

Artist (or Assistant) with Pipe is a 1855 by Frank Chauvassaignes, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Frank Chauvassaignes
When & what style?: 1855 · Impressionism
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a young painter sitting with a pipe. He's dressed in a smock, looking thoughtful. The photographer took the picture from a low angle, which makes the painter look important. The painter's clothes are rumpled, like he's been working hard. This makes the picture feel more real and natural. Check out the work of other artists at The Cleveland Museum of Art.

The story of this work

Overview

Frank Chauvassaignes' portrait is an outstanding example of compositional and technical achievement in early French photography. A handsome young painter, outfitted for work in the studio in a rumpled smock, appears to be caught in a moment of introspection, pipe in hand. The camera's lowered position gives the sitter a dignified air. In this formally balanced portrait, the photographer captured not only the sitter's physical likeness, but also his state of mind. Chauvassaignes, a photographer with a trained and sophisticated eye, lived in Clermont-Ferrand, a city in central France, and was a…

Read the full account in the museum source.