UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

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Z. Astruc, Editor of 'L'Artiste'

Impression: Freer Gallery of Art
Freer Gallery of Art
(1898.285)
Number: 36
Date: 1859
Medium: drypoint
Size: 230 x 154 mm
Signed: 'Whistler - ' at lower left
Inscribed: '1859.' at lower left
Set/Publication: 'Cancelled Plates', 1879
No. of States: 3
Known impressions: 21
Catalogues: K.53; M.53; T.66; W.49
Impressions taken from this plate  (21)

KEYWORD

art critic, dress, fashion, editor, head, journalist, man, painter, portrait, sculptor.

TITLE

The name of the sitter, Zacharie Astruc (1833-1907), provides the basis for the title, but there are variations in the amount of information provided, as follows:


'Monsieur Astruc, Redacteur du Journal L'Artiste ' (1860, R.A.). 1
'Astruc' (1863, Whistler). 2
'"Astruc" - Literateur' (1870s, Whistler). 3
'Astruc' (1877, Whistler). 4
'Astruc. Literateur' (1881, Union League Club). 5
'Astruc, a Literary Man' (1886, Frederick Wedmore (1844-1921)). 6
'Astruc' (1909, Howard Mansfield (1849-1938)). 7
'Z. Astruc, Editor of 'L'Artiste' (2009, Whistler Etching Project).


'Z. Astruc, Editor of L'Artiste ' identifies the portrait clearly, and is the preferred title.

In addition there is one incorrect title, 'Davis', recorded by Ralph Thomas, Jr (1840-1876), which can be totally discounted: Thomas confused the etching with Mr Mann [73]. 8

1: London RA 1860 .

2: Whistler to W. H. Carpenter, 3 August 1863, GUW #11109.

3: Written on Graphic with a link to impression #K0530101.

4: Whistler to C. A. Howell, 14-16 November [1877], GUW #13668.

5: New York 1881 (cat. no. 70).

6: Wedmore 1886 A (cat. no. 49).

7: Mansfield 1909 (cat. no. 53).

8: Thomas 1874 (cat. no. 66).

DESCRIPTION

A quarter-length portrait of a man facing slightly to the right, looking directly at the viewer. He has thick, untidy, wavy hair leading down to a short round beard, and has a shaggy moustache. His right hand, possibly holding a pipe, is raised toward his face. He is wearing a light jacket over a shirt with the collar open, and a loosely tied cravat. There is shading in the background to right.

SITTER

Zacharie Astruc (1833-1907). This is one of a series of portraits of Parisians in different professions, all of whom were friends of Whistler, including J. Becquet, Sculptor [62], C. L. Drouet, Sculptor [35] and Finette [61].

Astruc appears in Un atelier aux Batignolles, painted in 1870 by Whistler's closest friend in Paris, Ignace-Henri-Jean-Théodore Fantin-Latour (1836-1904). The studio group included Edouard Manet (1832-1883), Astruc, , Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) and Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (1840-1902), and Claude Oscar Monet (1840-1926). 9

painted a profile head of Astruc in 1861. 10 Joseph Auguste Bracquemond (1813-1914) etched a striking portrait of Astruc in the 1860s, reproduced below. 11
Comparative image
© Trustees of the British Museum.

9: Musée d'Orsay, RF 729.

10: Musée d'Orsay, RF 1950 36.

11: Béraldi 9.1, British Museum 1865,1209.684.

Edouard Manet (1832-1883) also painted Astruc's portrait (Kunsthalle Bremen), as did Bazille. 12 A photograph by Ferdinand Mulnier (fl. 1854-1890) shows him in 1892 - with less hair. 13

12: L'homme au cigare, Sotheby's, New York, 3 November 2010 (lot 138).

13: Musée d'Orsay, PHO 1983 165 510 10.