by Artist (9)
Open Access
Self-Portrait
Artist: Martin van Meytens the Younger (Stockholm, Sweden, 1695 - 1770, Vienna, Austria)
Date:
ca. 1730
18th century
Dimensions:
26.63 x 20.5 in. (67.63 x 52.07 cm)
Object Type:
Painting
Creation Place:
Europe, Italy
Medium and Support:
Oil on canvas
Credit Line:
Gift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation via The Discovery Museum, Bridgeport, CT, 2002
Accession Number:
2009.01.08
On View:
Bellarmine Hall Galleries
This painting of a young man in a fanciful turban was previously attributed to the Italian painter Fra Vittore Ghislandi, but has since been identified as a self-portrait of the Dutch-Swedish artist Martin van Meytens II. The son of a painter, Meytens traveled through Europe and spent several years in Italy before moving to Vienna in 1730, where he enjoyed great popularity and later became the de facto court painter to the Hapsburgs.
Meytens painted numerous self-portraits over the course of his long career, and his distinctive features – the round face with its protruding brow line and slightly bulbous nose – are identifiable in each. Many of these self-portraits exist in multiple versions. Another version of Fairfield’s painting can be found in the Uffizi, where it was formerly part of the Vasarian Corridor of self-portraits.
This painting was part of the group of works donated by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation to the Museum of Art, Science and Industry in Bridgeport, CT in 1962. When that museum became the Discovery Museum in the early 1990's, the Kress paintings were transferred to Fairfield University, where they formed the core of what would become the Fairfield University Art Museum.
Meytens painted numerous self-portraits over the course of his long career, and his distinctive features – the round face with its protruding brow line and slightly bulbous nose – are identifiable in each. Many of these self-portraits exist in multiple versions. Another version of Fairfield’s painting can be found in the Uffizi, where it was formerly part of the Vasarian Corridor of self-portraits.
This painting was part of the group of works donated by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation to the Museum of Art, Science and Industry in Bridgeport, CT in 1962. When that museum became the Discovery Museum in the early 1990's, the Kress paintings were transferred to Fairfield University, where they formed the core of what would become the Fairfield University Art Museum.
Provenance
(Paul Drey, New York); sold to Samuel H. Kress [1863-1955] in 1948; gift 1962 to the Museum of Art, Science and Industry, Bridgeport, CT; gift 2002 to the Bellarmine Museum of Art, Fairfield University [now called the Fairfield University Art Museum], no. K1586.
Keywords
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Baroque
Refers to the style and period of architecture, visual art, decorative art, music, and literature of western Europe and the Americas from about 1590 to 1750. The style is characterized by balance and wholeness, often with an emphasis on spectacle and emotional content, and a tendency toward contrasts of light against dark, mass against void, and the use of strong diagonals and curves.
Refers to the style and period of architecture, visual art, decorative art, music, and literature of western Europe and the Americas from about 1590 to 1750. The style is characterized by balance and wholeness, often with an emphasis on spectacle and emotional content, and a tendency toward contrasts of light against dark, mass against void, and the use of strong diagonals and curves.
paintings
Unique works in which images are formed primarily by the direct application of pigments suspended in oil, water, egg yolk, molten wax, or other liquid, arranged in masses of color, onto a generally two-dimensional surface.
Unique works in which images are formed primarily by the direct application of pigments suspended in oil, water, egg yolk, molten wax, or other liquid, arranged in masses of color, onto a generally two-dimensional surface.
public domain
Land owned and controlled by the state or federal government. Also, the status of publications, products, and processes that are not protected under patent or copyright.
Land owned and controlled by the state or federal government. Also, the status of publications, products, and processes that are not protected under patent or copyright.
self-portraits
Works in which someone produces a likeness of himself or herself.
Works in which someone produces a likeness of himself or herself.
portraits
Representations of real individuals that are intended to capture a known or supposed likeness, usually including the face of the person. For representations intended to be anonymous, or of fictional or mythological characters, see "figures (representations)."
Representations of real individuals that are intended to capture a known or supposed likeness, usually including the face of the person. For representations intended to be anonymous, or of fictional or mythological characters, see "figures (representations)."
Portfolio List
This object is a member of the following portfolios:
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