Emile-Auguste Carolus-Duran
Italian Model
1871
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, 17 3/4 x 13 3/4 in. (45.1 x 34.9 cm.)
Credit Line
The George A. Lucas Collection, purchased with funds from the State of Maryland, Laurence and Stella Bendann Fund, and contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations throughout the Baltimore community
Object Number
1996.45.53
A young man with dark hair and mustache smokes a cigarette as he rests between modeling sessions in an artist’s studio. A contemporary of the Impressionists, Carolus-Duran was one of the most prolific portrait painters working in Paris in the last half of the 19th century. Early in his career, he developed a strong interest in Spanish painting, especially the canvases of the 17th century master Diego Velasquez, whose revealing characterizations and somber colors are seen in much of his own work.
Inspired by his success as a portraitist of fashionable Parisians, Carolus-Duran opened a studio in the 1870s and counted among his pupils, a number of Americans including John Singer Sargent and Theodore Robinson.
The wherefore of the grand success of Carolus Duran is easily explained. He makes living beings, and he makes them thus because he so sees them.
–Eugène Montrosier, Galerie Contemporaire, 1876
The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 1996; The Maryland Institute College of Art,
through Henry Walters, Baltimore, by bequest 1909; from George A. Lucas, Paris
through Henry Walters, Baltimore, by bequest 1909; from George A. Lucas, Paris
The Maryland Institute, Baltimore, "Exhibition of the George A. Lucas Art Collection", 1911, cat. #52.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Selection of Paintings from the George A. Lucas Collection", 1934.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Modern Painting Isms and How They Grew", January 12- February 11, 1940.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A Century of Baltimore Collecting 1840 - 1940", June 6- Sept. 1, 1941, p. 37.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The George A. Lucas Collection of the Maryland Institute", October 12-November 21, 1965.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Nineteenth Century European Painting", June 24-September 7, 1969.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The George A. Lucas Collection", June 27-Fall 1974.
The Baltimore Museum of Art Downtown Gallery, "Selections from the Lucas Collection", July 21-August 22, 1975.
The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, "A Baltimorean in Paris: George A. Lucas, Art Agent 1860-1909", January 28-March 11, 1979.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Parallels and Precedents, The George A. Lucas Collection in Context", August 23-October 15, 1995.
Palais Des Beaux-Arts, Lille, "Carolus-Duran 1837-1917", March 9, 2003-June 9, 2003; tour to Musée Des Augustins, Toulouse, June 27, 2003-September 29, 2003; cat. 28, p. 106; ill. p. 107 (*BMA painting not exhibited in Toulouse).
Sona Johnston, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A View Toward Paris: The Lucas Collection of 19th-Century French Art", October 1, 2006-December 31, 2006.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Selection of Paintings from the George A. Lucas Collection", 1934.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Modern Painting Isms and How They Grew", January 12- February 11, 1940.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A Century of Baltimore Collecting 1840 - 1940", June 6- Sept. 1, 1941, p. 37.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The George A. Lucas Collection of the Maryland Institute", October 12-November 21, 1965.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Nineteenth Century European Painting", June 24-September 7, 1969.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The George A. Lucas Collection", June 27-Fall 1974.
The Baltimore Museum of Art Downtown Gallery, "Selections from the Lucas Collection", July 21-August 22, 1975.
The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, "A Baltimorean in Paris: George A. Lucas, Art Agent 1860-1909", January 28-March 11, 1979.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Parallels and Precedents, The George A. Lucas Collection in Context", August 23-October 15, 1995.
Palais Des Beaux-Arts, Lille, "Carolus-Duran 1837-1917", March 9, 2003-June 9, 2003; tour to Musée Des Augustins, Toulouse, June 27, 2003-September 29, 2003; cat. 28, p. 106; ill. p. 107 (*BMA painting not exhibited in Toulouse).
Sona Johnston, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A View Toward Paris: The Lucas Collection of 19th-Century French Art", October 1, 2006-December 31, 2006.
Stuart Preston, 'Corot's Little American,' Apollo, Vol LXXXII, no. 46, Dec. 1965, p. 513 - 514, ill. p. 513.
"Carolus-Duran 1837-1917," Palais Des Beaux-Arts, Lille, March 9, 2003 - June 9, 2003; Musée Des Augustins, Toulouse, June 27, 2003 - September 29, 2003; cat. 28 p. 106; ill. p. 107.
Inscribed: FACE: UR, signed and dated, (black paint), 'Carolus-Duran/15 Janvier/72'. VERSO, FRAME: TL, gallery label taped to frame; TL, (label), 'BMA cat./1965/#54'; TC, (label), 'Succession G. A. Lucas...'; TR, BMA label nailed; UR, label, 'WAG/Lucas/13.1979.28'; BC upside down, (black paint), mostly torn (from over lapping of previous backing?), '52...'; LL, (orange chalk/crayon), 'center 53'; UL, (masking tape), '52'
