Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
1799
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
O'Hara is a 1799 ink by Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
You see a small, dark oval portrait of a man in a coat and cravat. His face is lit sharply, almost glowing against the black background. The artist used fine lines to carve the shadows and highlights. This print is a mezzotint—an old engraving trick where the artist scratches a metal plate to make shadows. Here, the rough lines blend into smooth tones, giving the face a soft, lifelike look. The artist made this in 1799, when tiny portraits like this were a big deal. Try Charles B. J. Févret de Saint-Mémin next.
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin (French pronunciation: ; 1770–1852) was a French portrait painter and museum director.
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