Jean Joseph Vaudechamp
(French, 1790-1866; active New Orleans 1831-1839)

"Portrait d'Homme", 1827

oil on canvas
signed and dated upper right.
Period gilt frame.
25-1/2" x 21-1/4", framed 32" x 28"

Provenance: Private collection, France.

Notes: While studying at Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Jean Joseph Vaudechamp apprenticed in the studio of Anne-Louis Girodet. An accomplished artist, Girodet was a student of the renowned Neoclassical painter Jacques-Louis David. Favoring portraiture, Vaudechamp's paintings reflect his talents at refined draftsmanship and capturing the sophistication of his sitters. In 1832, Vaudechamp began to make annual trips for over a decade to New Orleans where his portraits were highly regarded and came to define the prosperous merchants and planters of French descent.
Dated 1827, "Portrait d'Homme" was painted while Vaudechamp was still in France and is among his earliest portrait works. The skillfully rendered portrait reflects the elements that would become representative of Vaudechamp's work in Louisiana including the elegantly dressed sitter depicted in a bust-length view. Interestingly, Vaudechamp employed a simple olive brown background here that he would favor in his later Louisiana portraits.

Signs of inpainting in upper center (face) and black area along chin and lower face. Area of damage and inpainting lower center (vest) which corresponds to patch en verso. Frame with surface marks, separations in corners, and losses along edges.