Benjamin Franklin

Attributedattributed to Jean Valade (French, baptized 1710 - died 1787)

Afterafter Joseph Siffred Duplessis (French, 1725 - 1802)

Formerformerly attributed to Joseph Siffred Duplessis (French, 1725 - 1802)

ClassificationsDRAWINGS

Date1778

Mediumpastel on blue paper adhered to linen

Dimensions28 1/2 x 22 1/2 in. (72.4 x 57.2 cm.)

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Label TextThis piece is one of many works of art produced to commemorate Benjamin Franklin's nine-year residence in France. In the autumn of 1776, Franklin arrived in Paris to negotiate a political alliance between the United States of America and France. The statesman, scientist, and philosopher was Already an international celebrity thanks to his groundbreaking studies of electricity, Franklin arrived in Paris in the autumn of 1776 to negotiate a political alliance between the United States of America and France. The popularity of the American cause-and the singularity of Franklin's appearance-won him unprecedented fame in France. There, in "the costume of an American farmer: his hair lank and unpowdered, his round hat, his suit of brown wool contrasting with the sequined, embroidered suits, the powdered and scented hair of the courtiers of Versailles," he stood out. Far from being offended, Franklin's hosts were charmed. "No man in Paris was more fashionable, more sought-after than Doctor Franklin." He easily obtained the French financial and military support that contributed to America's victory in the Revolutionary War.
French artists were fascinated by Franklin's Quaker simplicity. Whether clad in rustic furs or plain cloth and linen, he seemed the living embodiment of the democratic beliefs for which America was fighting. Franklin complained: "I have at the request of Friends sat so much and so often to painters and Statuaries, that I am perfectly sick of it. I know of nothing so tedious as sitting hours in one fix'd posture." But the demand for portraits of the American patriot was insatiable.
No artist captured Franklin's physical and psychological likeness as successfully as did Duplessis, and his iconic portrait (fig. 00) was hailed as a masterpiece when it appeared in the Salon of 1779.One critic commented: "His large forehead suggests strength of mind and his robust neck the firmness of his character. Evenness of temper is in his eyes and on his lips the smile of an unshakeable serenity." Copies appeared for sale almost immediately. Franklin encouraged this; the portrait was a personal favorite, and reproductions saved him the trouble of sitting to other artists. The present pastel is probably one of the replicas of the portrait made in the 1780s. Several contemporary oil copies, miniatures, and engravings exist, both by Duplessis and by other artists. However, pastel versions of this composition are scarce; there is only one other known, in collection of the New York Public Library. It was not unusual for artists to copy oil paintings in pastels. The technique, imported from Italy, flourished in eighteenth-century France, its vibrancy and smoothness appealing to artists and patrons alike. Pastel drawings were less expensive than oil paintings and could be produced faster, attributes particularly appropriate in the case of a busy and impatient man such as Franklin. Sellers has suggested that the New York pastel (once owned by Franklin himself) was Duplessis' preparatory sketch for his oil portrait Although the pose is identical, the costume is strikingly different: Franklin wears a conventional gray suit. The Huntington version matches the oil portrait.
The pastel is in its original frame, which is identical to that of an oil version of the portrait attributed to Jean Valade (1709-1787), peintre ordinaire to Louis XVI. Unlike Duplessis, Valade was a noted pastellist as well as a painter and is known to have made pastel copies of oil paintings by other masters. It seems likely, therefore, that The Huntington's pastel is by Valade. The date is estimated to be between 1778, when Duplessis painted the original, and 1787, when Valade died.

Status

Not on view

Object number53.4