Some also involve gestures, such as Le Discret (ca. 1790), which shows himself asking for silence.
He studied with Maurice Quentin de La Tour, who was known for his expressive pastel portraits. When Ducreux focused more on oil, his technique was influenced by Jean-Baptiste Greuze.
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| Portrait de l'artiste sous les traits d'un moqueur, 1793 (Portrait of the Artist in the Guise of Mocking) |
His self portrait with the mocking expression has inspired a huge number of memes.
We're not used to seeing old paintings or photos of people with facial expressions. See the Previous Posts below for some exceptions to that rule.
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Previous Posts:
Wikipedia: Joseph Ducreux
I think I look like the first painting and I think I once knew the guy in the third painting.
ReplyDeleteInteresting! I've tried a self-portrait with an extreme grimace (I was trying to imitate the expression of Animal from the Muppets) and I know how hard it is to pull off! Maintaining such facial expressions while drawing all the nuances is really tough. My face muscles ached a lot and I needed 3 tries to get something I was happy with.
ReplyDeleteDo you know if there was any cross-pollination between him and Franz Xaver Messerschmidt?
This are a good expression needs to be depicted in my next painting. As an African man who is not longer ensalve, his facial should not be of dull or of low esteem. This article is good n serves as a therapy.
ReplyDelete