Self-Portrait in Painting Studio

About the Artwork

Dolard, a portrait painter, may have offered photographs to prospective clients of lesser means. In this image, possibly made as an advertisement for his studio, he identifies himself as a painter, surrounded by the tools of the trade. The coat and the hookah suggest an interest in orientalism, a fashion that occupied many mid-19th-century artists. A remarkable technical achievement, this whole-plate image required Dolard to remain motionless for well over a minute, at least 30 times longer than the exposure for the smaller plates in the case below.

Inscriptions

Written in ink on attached label: "L1165j"

Exhibition history

19th-Century French Portrait Photography from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 27-August 9, 2000). France at the Dawn of Photography. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 4, 2009-January 24, 2010). Cheating Death: Portrait Photography’s First Half Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 22, 2016-February 5, 2017). France in the Time of Manet and Morisot. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 10-August 23, 2026).

Quick Overview

Artist: Camille Dolard (French, 1810–1884)
Date: c. 1843
Medium: daguerreotype (full-plate)
Dimensions: Platemark: 20.5 x 15 cm (8 1/16 x 5 7/8 in.); Matted: 55.9 x 45.7 cm (22 x 18 in.)
Type: Photograph
Classification: Photograph
Department: Photography
Credit line: Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Accession no.: 1997.56

Provenance

The Cleveland Museum of Art’s open-access data does not include an ownership history for this work. See the museum’s page for this work.

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 7, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.