Self-Portrait Gm-25609101

François Bonvin (French, 1817–1887) Somberly dressed in jacket and cravat, François Bonvin depicts himself with a serious and intense expression matched by the composition's dark tonality. Bonvin's grainy, dense application of black dramatically contrasts with the bare white paper which illuminates much of his face. This spotlight effect focuses our attention on Bonvin's self-assured gaze and his unsparing self-introspection in black chalk.

When Bonvin drew this self-portrait he was about thirty years old. His artistic career was gaining momentum after his first successful exhibition in 1844. Like many Realist artists, Bonvin looked to Dutch artists of the 1600s, whose works could be viewed at the Louvre, for his models. Rembrandt was especially important to Bonvin and this drawing recalls Rembrandt's many dramatic, probing self-portraits. Around this time, Bonvin and Gustave Courbet had struck up a friendship and Bonvin was undoubtedly influenced by Courbet's commitment to realism in art, his black chalk drawings, and memorable self-portraits.

High Quality Wood Framed Print using museum quality paper and archival inks with a white border or with cut mat for a contemporary look. Comes with Acrylite glazing and hanging hardware. These are Made in USA or Europe depending upon your location.

Stretched Canvas is stretched over 1.25" thick pine bars and printed on heavy cotton poly matte finish canvas. Comes with mounting brackets. These are Made in USA or Europe depending upon your location.

Giclee Prints are printed on 260gsm satin finish using the finest archival inks. Each print carries a white border around the perimeter. The listed size refers to the overall paper dimensions. The image is printed proportionally within this paper size and includes a small white border. These are Made in USA or Europe depending upon your location.

All of our images are digitized from the original or negative. Questions? Please email service@archivea.com.

Artwork in this collection is from The J. Paul Getty Museum. Reproduction rights are reserved by the copyright owner and used under license by Archivea.