Portrait of a Man
Jean-Baptiste Jacques Augustin
1800
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Jean-Baptiste Jacques Augustin
1800
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
A man in a dark coat looks straight at you, his lips curled in a faint smile. The lines are soft, almost like a pencil sketch, but the details—his collar, the shadow under his chin—are sharp. Augustin usually painted tiny portraits on ivory, small enough to hold in your hand. This one is bigger, closer to the size of a postcard. The way he draws faces feels real, like you could reach out and touch the stubble on the man’s cheek. If you like how Augustin makes faces feel alive, look up *sfumato*—the technique he used to blend shadows so smoothly.
