An oil on canvas, *Portrait of a Man* by Charles SPRAGUE PEARCE
An oil on canvas, *Portrait of a Man* by Charles SPRAGUE PEARCE
5.800,00 €
Charles Sprague Pearce (1851–1914)
Charles Sprague Pearce is an American painter living in France
He is part of a generation of American artists—such as Henry Mosler and Leslie Giffen Cauldwell—who came to study under the great classical masters, such as Léon Bonnat, and to discover the modern ferment sweeping through the Parisian art scene.
Charles Sprague Pearce was born on October 13, 1851, in Boston, Massachusetts, into a wealthy and cultured family.
His father, Shadrach H. Pearce, ran a business dealing in porcelain and items imported from China.
He attended Brimmer School and then Boston Latin School. He subsequently worked for several years in the family business before deciding to devote himself to painting.
In 1873, at the age of 21, he left his native Boston for Paris and, on the advice of the painter William Morris Hunt, enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Léon Bonnat’s studio.
Further information
| Dimensions | 33 × 40.5 cm |
|---|
From 1873 to 1876, the artist traveled to the East on numerous occasions.
In 1877, monumental and religious painting began to play a major role in his work. *The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist*, completed in 1881, earned him an honorable mention at the Paris Salon and an award in the United States from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
His paintings draw on several styles, ranging from the influence of Jean-Léon Gérôme to the Pre-Raphaelites, the Symbolists, and naturalists such as Jean-François Millet.
The artist knows how to make the most of each movement while adding his own touch.
At the same time, part of his body of work is devoted to rural life and genre scenes.
In 1885, he moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, and his paintings became brighter and softer.
Within the institutional framework, he played a key role in relations between the United States and Paris.
He served on the jury for the 1889 Paris World’s Fair, helped organize the American artistic presentation at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and contributed to the one in Antwerp in 1894.
Our painting, depicting Judas, with the inscription “
” in the lower right corner,
reflects this interest in biblical figures and their psychological dimensions.
The figure appears alone, wrapped in a light-colored cloth, his face emerging from a dark background.
His intense, almost tranced gaze forms the true center of the composition.
This is likely a preparatory work for one of the artist's major works from the early part of his career.
