Self-Portraitc. 1779
John Flaxman drew himself in red chalk around 1779, in his mid-twenties, when he was designing reliefs and portrait medallions for Josiah Wedgwood’s pottery. More about this work
About this work
John Flaxman drew himself in red chalk around 1779, in his mid-twenties, when he was designing reliefs and portrait medallions for Josiah Wedgwood’s pottery. He later became famous across Europe for his illustrations to Homer, Aeschylus and Dante, drawn in a pure, flowing outline inspired by Greek vase painting, and he was the first professor of sculpture at the Royal Academy. This early sheet shows the careful observation that underpinned his more abstract later style.
Written by Ochre Editions.
What you’re looking at
A work made of red chalk on cream laid paper.
Description from the Art Institute of Chicago.
How it was made
- Chalk
- Natural black, red and white chalks. Used together on toned paper they could give the warmth of flesh with very little effort, and they were favourites for studies from life.
- Laid paper
- Handmade on a mould of close-set wires, which leave fine parallel lines you can see when the sheet is held to the light.
John Flaxman
English, 1755–1826
Flaxman trained at the Royal Academy Schools and first made his name modelling designs for Josiah Wedgwood’s jasperware. During seven years in Rome he produced outline illustrations to Homer, Aeschylus and Dante, engraved and published to international acclaim; their pure, linear style influenced artists across Europe. Back in London he became a leading sculptor of funerary monuments and the first Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Art Institute of Chicago has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1924.122
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
- Type
- Drawing and Watercolor
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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