Figure 54: Abaissement volontaire de la mâchoire inférieure: mouvement inexpressif

Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne (de Boulogne)

1856

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Impressionism Realism Early 19th Century

Dominant colour

Figure 54: Abaissement volontaire de la mâchoire inférieure: mouvement inexpressif is a 1856 by Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne (de Boulogne), a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne (de Boulogne)
When & what style?: 1856 · Impressionism
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

This is a black-and-white photograph of an old man’s face with his mouth forced open by wires. His cheeks sag, his lips stretch thin, and his eyes look blank. Duchenne used electricity to trigger muscles in the face, trying to map which ones made real emotions. The wires you see were hooked to batteries—like a science experiment, not a portrait. He believed even plain faces could show beauty if the feeling was true. Look up the technique called *chiaroscuro* to see how light and shadow shape a face without color.

The story of this work

Overview

Duchenne described this model, a former shoemaker, as “an old, toothless man, with a thin face, whose features, without being absolutely ugly, approached ordinary triviality.” When criticized for using such an unattractive model, Duchenne held him up as proof that “every human face could become spiritually beautiful through the accurate rendering of his or her emotions.”