Self-Portrait at Easel — About This Work
Hippolyte Petitjean, 1897
About the Work
Petitjean stands before his easel and looks directly towards the viewer. The dark interior gives his self-presentation a concentrated setting, placing the act of painting within the image itself.
The museum identifies the drawing as one of several self-portraits informed by his admiration for Rembrandt. That connection concerns an artist looking at earlier art while considering his own appearance and role.
Conté crayon and charcoal allow the figure to emerge from a broad tonal environment. The direct gaze remains a point of contact within that darkness, making the self-portrait an encounter rather than simply a description of a studio.
The Work
Artist: Hippolyte Petitjean
Title: Self-Portrait at Easel
Date: 1897
Medium: Conté crayon with charcoal on laid paper
Recorded dimensions: 47.7 × 62 cm (W × H)
Collection: Cleveland Museum of Art
Accession number: 2021.6
Print & Presentation
Palatine presentation: 60 × 80 cm Classic Frame, portrait.
The complete artwork is reproduced at its recorded scale, subject only to negligible whole-pixel rounding, without enlargement, reduction, cropping or distortion. The surrounding white presentation area accommodates the artwork within the framed presentation and is incorporated into the print rather than added as a separate mount.
Frame finishes: Black, White or Natural.
Paper & glazing: Enhanced Matte + Perspex; or Enhanced Matte + Moth-Eye.
Why Original Scale?
Most art-print shops offer the same image in a choice of Small, Medium and Large sizes. We take a different approach. For each edition, we begin with the recorded dimensions of the original work and reproduce the complete image at that scale, preserving its proportions and avoiding enlargement, reduction, cropping or distortion.
Source: Image: The Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0. Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund. 2021.6.
Care: Display in a dry interior away from prolonged direct sunlight and sources of moisture.
Notes from Palatine
If you would like to stay with us, Notes from Palatine is an occasional letter about newly added works, artists and the thinking behind the collection. There is no fixed schedule; we write when there is something worth sharing.
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