Portrait of an Artist in his Studio

From the Getty Museum record

A painter stands before his easel, paused at work in his studio. He is working on an oval portrait of a young woman, his palette and brush held in his left hand while his right hand is elegantly posed on his hip. He is surrounded by the tools of his trade: at left, an open box of paints; at right several drawings are propped against the wall; above his head, carefully arranged on a shelf, are the standard antique models used for study in the Academic tradition. The room is lit by natural light that floods in from the left—perhaps from a large north-facing window, a feature of most artist’s studios. The strong, clear light casts a series of shadows across the floor and shows the painter’s face in high relief; the shadow across his left cheek is further contrasted by his collar highlighted in white gouache. Even though the artist who made this drawing was working on a large scale (the sheet is over 2 feet tall), he rendered every detail with exquisite care, from the hair drawn strand by strand to the miniature diamond-shaped lock on the painting box. The drawing is attributed to Robert Lefèvre, an exceptionally gifted portraitist who managed to thrive under Louis XVI, the First Empire, and the Restoration.