Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
1803
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Joseph Haskins is a 1803 ink by Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This tiny engraving shows a man’s face on paper, just two inches square. Saint-Mémin made it by scratching lines into a metal plate, then inking and pressing it onto paper. The cross-hatching lets him shade the face smoothly, like a pencil drawing. The details are sharp even in such a small print. The paper edges look hand-cut, so each copy feels handmade. Next time you’re in Washington, look for it at the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin (French pronunciation: ; 1770–1852) was a French portrait painter and museum director.
See the richer artist page
