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Jacques Luc Barbier-Valbonne
Also known as: The Painter Jacque Luc Barbier-Walbonne
About the Artwork
The French Revolution (1789–99) disrupted all traditional hierarchies, including that of art, which habitually placed history painting in the highest regard. When Isabey exhibited this portrait of his friend and fellow artist in the 1796 salon, drawings had taken on significance as a more personal and egalitarian form of art. Isabey depicts Barbier as a solid citizen of the new Republic. The tasseled cap and embroidered jacket recall Barbier’s service as a hussar, a type of soldier; the vest, cravat, and “dog-ear” hairstyle were popular among young men in Paris at the time. Traditionally, however, a fashionable man would not be shown smoking, an activity usually associated with lower classes. Isabey’s focus on the long pipe and steady stream of smoke made the drawing especially populist for the time.
Provenance
(César de Hauke, Paris?, according to departmental catalog sheet); Henry G. Dalton, Cleveland (according to departmental card)
Exhibition history
35th Anniversary Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-September 30, 1951). Baron Gros, Painter of Battles: The First Romantic Painter. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 8-April 15, 1956). Italian and French Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 13, 1959-February 2, 1960). Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 11-September 10, 1963). French Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1965-February 16, 1966). Rococo, Revolution, Restoration. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 11-September 24, 1989). Directions in Drawing II: The Human Figure. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 5, 1991-January 12, 1992). French Drawings from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 13, 1994-March 12, 1995). Elegance and Intrigue: French Society in 18th-century Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 16-November 6, 2016).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Jean-Baptiste Isabey (French, 1767–1855)
- Date
- 1796
- Medium
- Black chalk with stumping, heightened with white gouache on beige wove paper
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 26.2 x 20.7 cm (10 5/16 x 8 1/8 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Gift of Harry D. Kendrick
- Accession no.
- 1950.496
More by Jean-Baptiste Isabey in museum collections
Sheet of Studies: Two Male Heads in Profile and Standing Man
Jean-Baptiste Isabeylate 18th–mid-19th century · Drawing
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00011097
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