Cat. 5. Mario Uchard, c. 1855-56

Cat. 5 Caricature of Mario Uchard, c. 1858

Cat. 5

Caricature of Mario Uchard
c. 1858
Graphite with touches of erasure and stumping on tan wove paper; 320 × 245 mm
The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Carter H. Harrison Collection, 1933.891

Technical Report

Technical Summary

Claude Monet’s Mario Uchard was drawn in [glossary:graphite] on tan [glossary:wove] paper. The artist used fine graphite lines to establish the general form and define facial details. Broad passages of graphite were applied to create the hair, and light parallel strokes were drawn to render the shading in the figure. Some areas captured the fine texture of the wove paper; this is most noticeable in the crook of the proper left arm (fig. 5.1). Touches of erasure sharpen highlights in the face, particularly along the left side, accentuating the wrinkles below the eye, and along the nose (fig. 5.2). Added modeling in the face was created with a [glossary:stump].

Media and Support

Support Characteristics

Primary paper type

Tan, medium-thick, smooth wove paper.1

Furnish

Uniform, without visible inclusions or colored fibers.

Formation

Even, machine made.

Other characteristics

All edges of the sheet exhibit some degree of irregularity; the top and right edges appear to be edge torn rather than cut.

Dimensions

320 × 245 mm

Preparatory Layers

No artistic surface alterations or coatings are visible in normal conditions or under magnification. There is a light-yellow visible-light [glossary:fluorescence] under [glossary:UV] illumination that is characteristic of a light gelatin surface [glossary:sizing].

Media Characteristics

Graphite was used throughout. Fine lines establish the general form and define facial details, and broad passages, lightly drawn, create the hair and shadows in the figure. Areas of shading pick up the fine texture of the wove paper.

Touches of erasure were used to sharpen highlights in the face, particularly along the left side, to accentuate the wrinkles below the eye and along the nose. Further modeling in the face was created with a stump.

There is no drawing on the verso.

Compositional Development

No revisions or changes are visible in the composition in normal conditions or under magnification. Some lines have been reinforced with a second stroke in the same red chalk.

Surface Treatment

No fixatives or coatings are visible in normal conditions, under UV illumination, or under magnification.

Condition History

The drawing is in good condition overall. The sheet is slightly discolored, particularly within the image area and corresponding to the opening of a former window mat. In addition, there is faint mat burn within the image area. Faint foxing spots are visible around the perimeter on the recto. The paper is slightly worn along the edges, and there is a diagonal crease and associated partial breaks across the bottom right corner.

Dark-brown ink inscriptions on the verso have formed light-brown halos along the ink lines. It is unclear whether localized degradation of the paper support, slight migration of the ink, or fixing of the ink caused the halos.
Kimberly Nichols

Provenance

Possibly Alfred Dusseuil (1878–1927), Paris.2

Sold by Henri Cottereau, Paris, to Carter H. Harrison (1860–1953), Chicago, winter 1927–28.3
Given by Carter H. Harrison to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.

Exhibition History

City Art Museum of St. Louis, Claude Monet: A Loan Exhibition, Sept. 25–Oct. 22, 1957, p. 17, cat. 96 (ill.); Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Nov. 1–Dec. 1, 1957.

Williamstown, Mass., Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, The Unknown Monet: Pastels and Drawings, June 24–Sept. 16, 2007, pp. 38–39, fig. 29; 300; London, Royal Academy, Mar. 17–June 10, 2007.

Selected References

Hugh Edwards, “The Caricatures of Claude Monet,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 37, 1 (Jan. 1943), p. 71.

John Rewald, The History of Impressionism (Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1946), p. 35 (ill.).

Raymond Cogniat, Claude Monet (Flammarion, 1956), pl. 3.

Katharine Kuh and W. van der Rohe, “Homage to Claude Monet,” Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 51, 2 (Apr. 1, 1957), p. 27.

William C. Seitz, Claude Monet (Abrams, 1960), pp. 13; 50, fig 64.

Yvon Taillandier, Monet (Flammarion, 1963), p. 7 (ill.).

Charles Merrill Mount, Monet, a Biography (Simon & Schuster, 1966), pp. 33, 396.

Phoebe Pool, Impressionism (Praeger, 1969), p. 64, fig. 44.

Maria and Godfrey Blunden, Impressionists and Impressionism, trans. James Emmons (Skira, 1970), p. 38 (ill.).

Hideji Takashima, Manet, Monet, Seurat (Holp Shuppan, 1970), chap. 1 (ill.).

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet (Fratelli Fabbri, 1971), p. 90, no. 37 (ill.).

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 1 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1974), p. 5.

John Rewald, History of Impressionism (Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1973), p. 39 (ill.).

Toshiaki Minemura, Monet (Shinchsha, 1974), p. 86 (ill.).

Rodolphe Walter, “Claude Monet as a Caricaturist: A Clandestine Apprenticeship,” trans. Eric Young, Apollo 103 (June 1976), pp. 489; 492.

Harold Joachim and Sandra Haller Olsen, French Drawings and Sketchbooks of the Nineteenth Century, vol. 2 (University of Chicago Press, 1979), pp. 70–71, no. 4B3.

William C. Seitz, Monet: 25 Masterworks (Abrams, 1982), p. 10 (ill.).

Douglas Skeggs, River of Light: Monet’s Impressions of the Seine (Gollancz, 1987), pp. 15 (ill.); 150

Denis Rouart, Monet (Nathan, 1990), p. 16 (ill.).

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Catalogue raisonné, vol. 5, Supplément aux peintures: Dessins; Pastels; Index (Wildenstein Institute, 1991), p. 147, cat. D499 (ill.).

Jacques-Sylvain Klein, La Normandie: Berceau de l’impressionisme 1820–1900 (Ouest-France, 1996), p. 66.

Carla Rachman, Monet (Phaidon, 1997), p. 18 (ill. in reverse).

Birgit Zeidler, Claude Monet: Life and Work (Könemann, 2000), p. 10 (ill. in reverse).

Other Documentation

Inscriptions and Distinguishing Marks

Verso

Inscription
Location: center top
Method: brown ink, in a different hand
Content: [Arthur Neyer?] for Claude Monet (fig. 5.3)

Inscription
Location: on top of inscription Arthur, center top
Method: brown ink, in a different hand
Content: Mario Uchard (fig. 5.3)

Stamp
Location: center
Method: brown ink
Content: The Art / Institute of / Chicago

Mark
Location: center
Method: graphite
Content: 37 × 28

Mark
Location: lower left
Method: graphite
Content: 33.891

Mark
Location: lower left
Method: graphite
Content: Mario Uchard

Mark
Location: lower right
Method: graphite
Content: 63 [Alflriuerl?]

Examination Conditions and Technical Analysis

Raking Visible Light

Paper [glossary:support] characteristics identified.

Transmitted Visible Light

Paper mold characteristics identified.

Ultraviolet-Induced Visible Fluorescence (365 nm)

Light surface [glossary:size] detected overall.

Binocular Microscopy (80–100×)

Media identified.

Image Inventory

The image inventory compiles records of all known images of the artwork on file in the Imaging Department and in the conservation and curatorial files in the Department of Prints and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago (fig. 5.4).

Thicknesses and textures refer to samples provided in Elizabeth Lunning and Roy Perkinson, The Print Council of America Paper Sample Book: A Practical Guide to the Description of Paper (Print Council of America/Sun Hill, 1996).

According to Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Catalogue raisonné, vol. 5 (Wildenstein Institute, 1991), p. 147, cat. D499 (ill.). Also according to the Durand-Ruel Archives, “Alfred Dusseuil (174 boulevard Pereire) deposited at Durand-Ruel Paris seven 7 [sic] drawings ‘Portraits charge’ on 2nd February 1927, which were returned to him on 14th March 1927.  However, we have no further information (no image, no dimensions); thus no possibility of identifying these drawings.”  See Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Apr. 9, 2014, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

Géraldine Lefebvre has confirmed that Alfred Dusseuil was the second son of Le Havre collector Georges Dusseuil (1848–1926).  See Géraldine Lefebvre to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 3, 2014, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. Georges was a collector of modern art and a supporter of the Musée Malraux in Le Havre.  In addition, Lefebvre reviewed the documents for the estate of Alfred Dusseuil dated 1929 and found no mention of works of art, thereby supporting Wildenstein’s assertion.  See Lefebvre to the Art Institute of Chicago, Mar. 31, 2014, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.  Finally, the mostly illegible [glossary:graphite] inscription on the verso in the lower right might be “Al Dusseuil” (see Inscriptions and Distinguishing Marks). It is therefore possible that, like a number of other caricatures in the Art Institute’s collection, this drawing was once owned by Georges Dusseuil, passed to his son upon his death in 1926, and was sold to Henri Cottereau at some point between March 14 and November 3, 1927.

According to Carter H. Harrison, “A brief statement of where and how I acquired the various items in the collection of drawings I have given to the Art Institute. . . . ,” Oct. 18, 1934, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

Caricature of Mario Uchard (D499) corresponds to Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Catalogue raisonné, vol. 5, Supplément aux peintures; Dessins; Pastels; Index (Wildenstein Institute, 1991), p. 147, cat. D499 (ill.).