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A portrait of a man who is visible from the waist up and wears military medals on his jacket.

A man sits with his body facing slightly right, but his face turns toward the viewer. He has hair which is styled close to his head, parted in the middle, and pushed back away from his face. His eyes are slightly sunken, and he has some wrinkles on his face. He wears a high-necked jacket with a white shirt poking out of the collar and out of the open front of the jacket. There are medals and ribbons partially visible on both sides of his jacket, indicating a military or royal history.

Gallery Text

One of the foremost painters of his day, Ingres received critical acclaim for his depictions of French high society. His portraits were frequently compared with photographic daguerreotypes. Based on a known photograph of the artist, this self-portrait — the only one extant by this celebrated painter — demonstrates his engagement with technology in fashioning his self-image. But by thinning his physical frame and coloring his gray hair, the aging artist rendered himself in a more flattering way than the camera did. The glowing eyes, haunting gaze, and fleshy skin of the portrait — all qualities difficult to capture in early photography — further assert Ingres’s belief in the artistic superiority of painting. The painting was originally octagonal, and he expanded it to include his stylish glove and top hat.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.253
People
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, French (Montauban 1780 - 1867 Paris)
Title
Self-Portrait
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
1859
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/230199

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil on paper mounted on canvas
Dimensions
65.4 x 53.7 cm (25 3/4 x 21 1/8 in.)
framed: 90.5 x 78.3 cm (35 5/8 x 30 13/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: l.l.: J.A. [Ingres] / 1859

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1859, to; Mme. Delphine Ingres (née Ramel), his widow, by descent; to Albert Ramel (her nephew), by descent; to Mme Ramel (his widow), by 1887, by descent, to Emmanuel Riant (her son-in-law). [Wildenstein & Co., New York], sold; to Grenville L. Winthrop, New York, NY, May 25, 1936, bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1943.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.253
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.

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Publication History

  • "Chronique Locale", Le Courrier de Tarm-et-Garonne (April 26, 1862)
  • P[rosper] [Debia], "Feuilleton de Courrier, Exposition des Beaux-Arts, à Montauban", Le Courrier de Tarn-et-Garonne (May 31 1862)
  • Exposition des Beaux-Arts, exh. cat., Hôtel de Ville, Montauban (Montauban, France, 1862), no. 542
  • D'Arpentigny, "Exposition intime dans l'atelier de M. Ingres", Le Courrier artistique (June 19, 1864), p. 11
  • Emile Bellier de la Chavignerie, "Notes sur l'oeuvre de M. Ingres", La Chronique des Arts et de la Curiosité (1867), vol. V, p. 60
  • Catalogue des tableaux, études peintes, dessins et croquis de J.A.D. Ingres exposé dans les galeries de l'Ecole impériale des Beaux-Arts, exh. cat., Ad. Laine et J. Havard (Paris, France, 1867), no. 96
  • Olivier Merson and Emile Bellier de la Chavignerie, Ingres, sa Vie et ses Oeuvres, J. Hetzel (Paris, France, 1867), p. 122
  • Henri, Vicomte Delaborde, Ingres, sa vie, ses travaux, sa doctrine, d'apres les notices manuscrites et les lettres du maitre, H. Plon (Paris, France, 1870), no. 131
  • Edouard Gatteaux, Dessins, croquis et peintures de M. Ingres de la Collection de Édouard Gateaux, du Musée National du Louvre et l'École Nationale des Beaux-Arts à Paris (Paris, France, 1873?), pl. 57
  • Edouard Gatteaux, Collection des 120 dessins, croquis et peintures de M. Ingres classés et mis en ordre par son ami Edouard Gatteaux, A. Guerinet (Paris, France, 1875), pl. 65
  • Henry Lapauze, Les dessins de J.-A.-D. Ingres du Musée de Montauban, J. E. Bulloz (Paris, France, 1901), pp. 10, 250, under Cahier X
  • Augustine Boyer d'Agen (Jean-Auguste Boye), Ingres d'apres une correspondence inédit, H. Daragon (Paris, France, 1909), p. 445, under no. LXXXI
  • Exposition Ingres, exh. cat., Galerie Georges Petit (Paris, France, 1911), no. 65
  • Henry Lapauze, Ingres, sa vie & son oeuvre, G. Petit (Paris, France, 1911), p. 532
  • "La Doctrine de Ingres", La Renaissance de l'art Français (May 1921), vol. IV, no. 5, repr. p. 270
  • Léonce Bénédite, "Une exposition d'Ingres", Gazette des Beaux-Arts (June 1921), vol. III, pp. 325-337, repr. p.325
  • Henry Lapauze, Exposition Ingres, exh. cat., Galerie Georges Petit (Paris, France, 1921), no. 51
  • Walter Pach, Ingres, Harper and Brothers Publishers (New York, NY and London, England, 1939), p. 130, repr. facing p. 274
  • [Reproduction only], "French Painting", Bulletin of the Fogg Art Museum, Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, November 1943)., repr. in b/w, p. 59
  • Dorothy Adlow, "Winthrop Bequest Boosts Fogg Museum to Front Rank", The Christian Science Monitor (October 18, 1943), p. 5
  • Chinese Sculpture, Bronzes, Jades, Paintings and Drawings, Egyptian and Persian sculpture, Pre-Columbian art; selected from the collection of Grenville Lindall Winthrop, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1943), p. 4
  • Agnes Mongan, "Drawings by Ingres in the Winthrop Collection", Gazette des Beaux-Arts (July-December 1944), ser. 6, 26, p. 388 n. 1
  • Edgar P. Richardson, "Recent Acquisitions of American Collections: Ingres' Self-Portrait in the Fogg Museum", Art Quarterly (1944), 7, pp. 66-67, pp. 66-67, ill.
  • Otto Benesch, "The Winthrop Collection: From Neo-Classic to Romanticism; David, Ingres, Géricault", Art News (January 1-14, 1944), vol. 42, no. 16, pp. 9-10, 20-21, 32, repr. p. 20
  • [Reproduction only], Harvard Alumni Bulletin, (Cambridge, MA, January 8, 1944)., repr. on cover
  • A Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings from the Ingres Museum at Montauban, exh. cat., Knoedler Galleries (New York, NY, 1952), p. 6
  • Georges Wildenstein, Ingres, Phaidon Press (London, England, 1954), pp. 223, fig. 172; 224-225, no. 292; , 231, under no. 316
  • Georges Wildenstein, Ingres (London, England, 1956), pp. 223, fig. 172, 224 no. 292
  • Martin Birnbaum, The Last Romantic (New York, NY, 1960), pp. 190-191
  • Ingres and Degas: Two Classical Draughtsmen, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1961), no. 3
  • Daniel Ternois, Inventaire des collections publiques francaises, 11, Montauban, Musee Ingres, peintures, Ingres et son temps., Editions des Musées Nationaux (Paris, France, 1965), under nos. 25, 191
  • Norman Schlenoff, "Ingres Centennial at the Fogg Museum", The Burlington Magazine (1967), vol. CIX, p. 376
  • Ingres, exh. cat., Réunion des Musées Nationaux (Paris, France, 1967), under no. 254, p. 330
  • Ingres: Centennial Exhibition, 1867-1967. Drawings, Watercolors and Oil Sketches from American Collections, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1967), pp. x-xi
  • Paintings from the Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop shown in conjunction with the Ingres Centennial Exhibition, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1967), no. V
  • Aaron Scharf, Art and Photography (London, England, 1968), pp. 27-29
  • Ingres e Firenze, exh. cat., Centro di Firenze (Florence, Italy, 1968), pp. 8, under no. 7 bis, 39 under no. 36
  • Emilio Radius and Ettore Camesasca, L'opera completa di Ingres, Rizzoli (Milan, Italy, 1968), p. 116, no. 106b, pl. LVII
  • Dorothy W. Gillerman, ed., Grenville L. Winthrop: Retrospective for a Collector, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, 1969), p. 240
  • Daniel Ternois and Ettore Camesasca, Tout l'oeuvre peint d'Ingres (Paris, France, 1971), p. 116, no. 161b, pl. LVII
  • René Huyghe, La relève de l'imaginaire: la peinture francaise au XIXe siecle: realisme, romantisme, Flammarion (Paris, France, 1976), p. 182
  • Jon Whiteley, Ingres, Oresko Books Ltd. (London, England, 1977), frontispiece
  • Hans Naef, Die Bildniszeichnungen von J.-A.-D. Ingres (Bern, Switzerland, 1978), vol. III pp. 21 n. 2, 203 n. 2
  • Viorica Guy Marcia, Ingres, Meridiane (Bucharest, 1978), detail repr. as pl. 54
  • Gaetan Picon, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Quai des Celestins, 4 (New York, NY, 1980), p. 9; repr. b/w p. 9
  • John Spike, "Ingres at the Fogg Art Museum", The Burlington Magazine (1981), vol. 123, no. 936, p. 190
  • Pascal Bonafoux, Portraits of the Artist: The Self-Portrait in Painting, Skira Rizzoli (New York, NY, 1985), repr. in color p. 117
  • Pierre Georgel and Anne-Marie Lecoq, La Peinture dans la Peinture, Editions Adam Biro (Paris, France, 1987), repr. in color, pl. XV, opposite p. 136
  • Edgar Peters Bowron, European Paintings Before 1900 in the Fogg Art Museum: A Summary Catalogue including Paintings in the Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1990), p. 112, repr. as no. 311
  • Annalisa Zanni, Ingres: catalogo completo dei dipinti, Cantini Editore (Florence, Italy, 1990), p. 140, under no. 108
  • Gaetan Picon, Ingres, Skira Rizzoli (Geneva, Switzerland/New York NY, 1991), repr. in color p. 110
  • De David a Matisse: 100 Dibujos franceses, exh. cat., Centro Cultural / Arte Contemporaneo (Mexico City, Mexico, 1994), p. 166
  • Georges Vigne, Ingres, Citadelles & Mazenod and Abbeville Press (Paris, France; New York, NY, 1995), p. 295-296, repr. as fig. 251
  • Daniel Ternois, ed., Lettres d'Ingres à Marcotte d'Argenteuil, Société de l'Histoire de l'Art Français (Nogent-le-Roi, France, 1999), pp. 173 n. 4, 177 n. 8, 250
  • Valérie Bajou, Monsieur Ingres, Editions Adam Biro (Paris, France, 1999), p. 328
  • Gary Tinterow and Philip Conisbee, Portraits by Ingres: Image of an Epoch, exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY, 1999), pp. 366, repr. as fig. 12, 368, 462-464, fig. 285, under nos. 148-149
  • Charlotte Hale, "Portraits by Ingres: Images of an Epoch: Technical Observations", Metropolitan Museum Journal (2000), 35, pp. 198-207, pp. 206-207
  • Daniel Ternois, Lettres d’Ingres à Marcotte d’Argenteuil: dictionnaire, Librairie des Arts et Métiers-Ed. Jacques Laget (Nogent-le-Roi, France, 2001), pp. 47, 48 n. 16, 182
  • Chikashi Kitazaki and Mina Oya, ed., Between Reality and Dreams: Nineteenth Century British and French Art from the Winthrop Collection of the Fogg Art Museum, exh. cat., National Museum of Western Art (Ueno, 2002), p. 29, repr. as fig. 17
  • Stephan Wolohojian, ed., A Private Passion: 19th-Century Paintings and Drawings from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection, Harvard University, exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yale University Press (U.S.) (New York, 2003), no. 80, pp. 204-206, repr. in color
  • Stephan Wolohojian, Ingres, Burne-Jones, Whistler, Renoir... La Collection Grenville L. Winthrop, exh. cat., Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon and Réunion des Musées Nationaux (Paris, France, 2003), no. 80, pp. 215-216, repr. in color
  • Sammlung Oskar Reinhart "Am Römerholz", Schwabe (Basel, Switzerland, 2003), p. 284, repr. as abb. 1
  • Vincent Pomarède, Stéphane Guégan, Louis-Antoine Prat, and Eric Bertin, Ingres 1780-1867, exh. cat., Editions Gallimard (Paris, France, 2006), p. 364, repr. as ill. 219
  • Lilas Sharifzadeh, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Variations sur un thème. La Grande Odalisque Découverte d'une réplique autographe, exh. cat., Galerie Hubert Duchemin (Paris, 2013), pp. 42-43; repr. in color as ill. 26, p. 45.
  • Emmanuelle Brugerolles, Ingres et ses élèves, exh. cat., Beaux-arts de Paris éditions (Paris, 2017), p. 64, repr. p. 66 as ill. 1

Exhibition History

  • Exposition des Beaux-Arts, 1862, Hôtel de Ville, Montauban, Montauban, 05/04/1862 - 05/31/1862
  • Tableaux, etudes peintes, dessins et croquis de J.-A.-D. Ingres peintre d'histoire, sénateur, membre de l'Institut, École Impériale des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 04/10/1867 - 12/31/1867
  • Exposition Ingres, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 04/26/1911 - 05/14/1911
  • Exposition Ingres, Chambre Syndicale de la Curiosité et des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 05/08/1921 - 06/05/1921
  • Chinese sculpture, bronzes, jades, paintings and drawings, Egyptian and Persian sculpture, Pre-Columbian art : selected from the collection of Grenville Lindall Winthrop, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 10/01/1943 - 02/28/1944
  • Ingres and Degas: Two Classical Draughtsmen, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 04/24/1961 - 05/20/1961
  • Paintings from the Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop shown in conjunction with the Ingres Centennial Exhibition, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 02/12/1967 - 04/09/1967
  • Master Paintings from the Fogg Collection, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 04/13/1977 - 08/31/1977
  • Works by J.-A.-D. Ingres in the Collection of the Fogg Art Museum, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 10/17/1980 - 12/07/1980
  • Masterpieces of European Art, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Cambridge, 06/22/1985 - 09/15/1985
  • France and the Portrait, 1799-1870, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 12/03/1994 - 01/29/2002
  • A Private Passion: 19th-Century Paintings and Drawings from the Grenville L. Winthrop Collection, Harvard University, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, Lyon, 03/15/2003 - 05/26/2003; National Gallery, London, 06/25/2003 - 09/14/2003; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 10/23/2003 - 01/25/2004
  • For Students of Art and Lovers of Beauty: Highlights from the Collection of Grenville L. Winthrop, Harvard University Art Museums, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 04/16/2004
  • 32Q: 2200 19th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 03/19/2019

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Related Works

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu