Portrait of Violinist Jean Vidal (1789–1867)

Also known as: Portrait of the Violinist Jean Vidal (1789-1867)

About the Artwork

This portrait is the most finished known work by Adrien Victor Auger, who broke from the idealized forms and historical subjects promoted by his teacher, Jacques-Louis David (whose work is nearby). In this drawing, Auger referenced contemporary Parisian cultural life, depicting the accomplished musician Jean Vidal as he embarked on an illustrious career in violin performance. Vidal is fashionably attired and gazes dreamily, signifying his modernity and artistic temperament. Auger rendered the violinist’s likeness with great detail and realism—including his slumping stockings and smooth shirt collar—by varying the density of repeated chalk marks and highlighting the paper’s tan tone with touches of white.

Inscriptions

inscribed, bottom left, in pen and brown ink: Victor Auger, Elève de David, fecit; bottom right, in pen and brown ink: anno 1808; watermark, upper left: WHATMAN / 1801

Provenance

1854-?: Family of the artist, by descent ?-?: (Galerie J. Kugel, Paris) by 2006-2012: (Thomas Le Claire, Hamburg) 2012-2013: (W. M. Brady & Co., New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH) 2013-: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Exhibition history

Themes and Variations: Musical Drawings and Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 25-May 17, 2015). Nineteenth-Century French Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 20-June 11, 2023).

Quick Overview

Artist: Adrien Victor Auger (French, 1787–1854)
Date: 1808
Medium: black and gray chalk, with touches of white chalk, on tan wove paper
Dimensions: Image: 75.4 x 54.1 cm (29 11/16 x 21 5/16 in.); Sheet with border: 91.5 x 64.4 cm (36 x 25 3/8 in.)
Type: Drawing
Classification: Drawing
Department: Drawings
Credit line: John L. Severance Fund
Accession no.: 2013.47

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.