Getty Museum
A Music Party
Creator
Jacques-André PortailFrench Artist · 1695–1759
All works by this person →Jacques André Portail, who spent much of his career as an art administrator in varied capacities, is remembered today for his delicate chalk drawings. Little is known of his training; an architectural engineer's son, he probably first studied in his native Brest. In 1738 Portail was appointed designer to the king and soon became a familiar face at Versailles. Within a few years his duties grew to
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- 1738
- Medium
- Red and black chalk, on off-white paper
- Culture
- French
- Department
- Drawings
- Institution
- Getty Museum
Music formed a recurring theme in the work of Jacques-André Portail. In this drawing, two young women lean together over a book of music to sing a song, accompanied by a flutist. A single man stands behind the trio, leaning forward with his hands stuck in his vest and pocket to observe the music. Though he skillfully represented the figures' elegant costumes, Portail focused more on the scene's quiet absorption, as all four appear to be totally engrossed in their activity. He built up the scene with numerous, dense lines of different intensities and simply left the highlighted areas blank, allowing the whiteness of the paper to form the tonal contrast.
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