Portrait of a Man

Artist Claude-Marie Dubufe (French, ca.1790-1864)

Dateabout 1835-1845

DimensionsH: 51 1/4 in. (130.2 cm); W: 38 1/2 in. (97.8 cm)

MediumOil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1975.1

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 31

Label TextA student of Neoclassical artist Jacques-Louis David, Claude-Marie Dubufe exhibited regularly at the French state-sponsored art exhibitions—the Salons—from 1810 until 1863. At first he painted history and genre pictures (scenes of everyday life), but from about 1830 he devoted himself to portraiture, achieving great success. His sitters included many of the French nobility and the wealthy Paris bourgeoisie (industrialists, bankers, etc.). The identity of this man—posed boldly before a cloudy sky with a very low horizon—has not been determined, though his demeanor and his fashionable clothing suggest his status as a member of the leisured class. So, too, does the elegant detail of one soft leather glove removed and held along with a top hat in his gloved left hand.Published ReferencesToledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, p. 56, pl. 212.

Bréon, Emmanuel, Claude-Marie, Edouard et Guillaume Dubufe, Portraits d'un siècle d'elegance parisienne, Paris, 1990, repr. p. 109.