Portrait of Jean Ajalbert (c. 1893): Art, History and Details

Portrait of Jean Ajalbert (c. 1893) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Eugène Carrière (French, 1849–1906).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This drawing is one of several portraits that Eugène Carrière created of the naturalist writer and art critic Jean Ajalbert. Both were part of the same Symbolist artistic and literary circles in Paris during the late 19th century. Portraiture was a favorite genre for Carrière, who often portrayed his friends and colleagues. Here, Ajalbert looks forward directly, seemingly in contrast with his otherwise hazy visage and surroundings.

Object facts

• Title: Portrait of Jean Ajalbert
• Date: c. 1893
• Creator attribution: Eugène Carrière (French, 1849–1906)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: charcoal with white chalk
• Dimensions: Sheet: 27.4 x 23.7 cm (10 13/16 x 9 5/16 in.)
• Collection: DR - French
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 2009.116

A detail from the museum

One of Eugène Carrière's portraits of Jean Ajalbert was translated to lithography and included as a frontispiece to his novel Sao Van Di (1905).

Collection credit

Bequest of Muriel Butkin

Further reading listed by the museum

• Galerie Manzi, Joyant & Cie, Paris. Catalogue des Tableaux, Dessins, Lithographies provenant de l'atelier d'Eugène Carrière. February 2-3, 1920. Lot 168.
• A Collection of Drawings Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Anson C. Goodyear. Buffalo, NY: The Buffalo Fine Art Academy, 1923.
• Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, "Collection of Drawings Lent to the Albright Art Gallery By Mr. and Mrs. Anson C. Goodyear," Academy Notes, vol. XVIII, no. 2 (July-December, 1923): 58-61.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.