Self-Portrait - Maurice Quentin de Latour

Gift of the Joseph and Helen Regenstein Foundation

"Self-Portrait" by Maurice Quentin de Latour (c. 1737) Pastel on greenish-tan laid paper.

Commentary

"Self-Portrait" by Maurice Quentin de Latour (c. 1737) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. Themes to notice include pastel. This piece is held in the source coll ection's Prints and Drawings collection. Maurice Quentin de Latour is the artist behind this work. A useful anchor for reading the piece: Maurice-Quentin de La Tour French, 1704–1788. The work is cataloged within a France cultural context. How to look at this work: It is cataloged as pastel, which gives a clue to how the museum frames the object. Its medium (Pastel on greenish-tan laid paper) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (32.4 × 24.1 cm (12 13/16 × 9 1/2 in.)) suggest how intimate or monumental it may feel in person. Subject cues from the catalog include pastel. Compare this reading with the museum record at the source collection: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/10238

Sources: Art Institute of Chicago; Art Institute of Chicago / Public Records; Art Institute of Chicago Collection Data