1796
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Jacques Luc Barbier-Valbonne is a 1796 by Jean-Baptiste Isabey, a Romanticism work, depicting Smoking, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
Here’s a man in a fancy red jacket and tasseled cap, holding a pencil like he’s about to draw. This portrait was made right after the French Revolution, when art rules were changing. Drawings became important—more personal and less stuffy than big history paintings. The artist shows his friend as a regular guy, not a noble, even though the clothes hint he was once a soldier. If you like this, look up *The Cleveland Museum of Art* to see more works from this time.
The French Revolution (1789–99) disrupted all traditional hierarchies, including that of art, which habitually placed history painting in the highest regard. When Isabey exhibited this portrait of his friend and fellow artist in the 1796 salon, drawings had taken on significance as a more personal and egalitarian form of art. Isabey depicts Barbier as a solid citizen of the new Republic. The tasseled cap and embroidered jacket recall Barbier’s service as a hussar, a type of soldier; the vest, cravat, and “dog-ear” hairstyle were popular among young men in Paris at the time. Traditionally,…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Jean-Baptiste Isabey (French pronunciation: ; 11 April 1767 – 18 April 1855) was a French artist during both the First Empire and the Restoration.
See the richer artist pageYour cart is empty
Explore artworks →
