Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
1808
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Archibald Pleasants, Jr. is a 1808 ink by Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This small print shows a man in a dark coat and white cravat, facing left with a serious look. The lines are smooth but the shadows feel deep, like velvet. That’s the trick of mezzotint—scratching metal plates to make dark areas, then smoothing them for light. Saint-Mémin made hundreds of these quick portraits. He worked fast, using a small metal plate to capture faces in just a few hours. See how the paper’s edges are cut unevenly? That’s how engravings were trimmed before mounting. Look up Saint-Mémin, Charles B. J. Févret de.
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin (French pronunciation: ; 1770–1852) was a French portrait painter and museum director.
See the richer artist page
