Henri Lehmann 1850

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres made this pencil drawing of Henri Lehmann in 1850. Ingres was a leading figure in the French Academy, the official institution of art in France. He saw himself as upholding the classical tradition against what he considered the excesses of Romanticism. This drawing of Lehmann is a study in understated elegance. Lehmann was a student of Ingres, and became a successful painter himself. The drawing functions as a kind of calling card, establishing both artist and sitter within a network of social and artistic relations. It speaks of patronage, social circles, and artistic lineages. We can learn more about this drawing through archival records and letters which can tell us about the artistic and social world of mid-19th century France. Understanding the role of the Academy and the relationships between artists helps us to see how art was produced, taught, and consumed in this period.