English: Jean Naigeon (Paris 1757 - 1832)

Self-portrait of the Artist in his Studio

Oil on canvas

Signed and dated lower left Naigeon Lné P. 1789

50 x 66 cm; 19¾ by 26 in.

Exhibited at the 1791 Salon, this important and charming canvas is the work of a neoclassical painter of rare delicacy, Jean Naigeon (1757-1832).

Born in Beaune in 1757, Jean Naigeon – who must not be confused with his quasi-homonym, also Burgundian, the painter Jean-Claude Naigeon – began his training at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Dijon, established in 1766 by the sculptor François Devosge. Graduating in 1778 with the first Prix de peinture des Etats de Bourgogne, in 1780 he put himself forward for the Prix de Rome des Etats de Bourgogne – a peculiarity of the regional Academy – but lost to his homonym. Downcast by this failure, he went to Paris in the company of Prud’hon, to complete his apprenticeship, and entered David’s studio in 1789.

He took part in the Salons of 1791 and 1793, and in this year was appointed to the Commission des Arts et des Sciences. While his career as a painter then seemed to falter, in 1802 he became curator of the paintings gallery at the Musée du Luxembourg, which was dedicated, from 1818, to contemporary art. He stayed there until he retired in 1828.

This self-portrait, which is combined with a group portrait, shows the artist in his studio, painting a large canvas which appears to be a Death of Socrates, in the presence of three visitors. The two young people in the background, removing a portrait sketch from a portfolio, are probably the artist’s brother, François (1762-1815), who became a well-known miniaturist, and his sister, as suggested by a description of the painting produced when the it was sold as part of the Jules Burat collection: ‘L’Atelier de l’artiste. Il est avec sa famille debout, tenant sa palette et causant avec un personnage vêtu d’un habit bleu, qui tient un livre; au second plan, une jeune femme et un jeune homme cherchent des dessins dans un portefeuille.’ [The artist’s studio. He is standing with his family, holding his palette and talking to a person in a blue coat, who holds a book; in the background, a young woman and a young man looking for drawings in a portfolio]. We have not been able to identify the seated older man in the centre, holding a book, but it may be the artist’s father, partly completing the Naigeon family.

The studio, lit with a delicate slanting light which falls on the large work in progress on the easel, is austerely decorated with elements typical of the neoclassical painter. In an alcove set into the wall, top left, plasters of famous sculptures include the bust supposedly of Homer, the Borghese gladiator, and Antinous as Osiris; below there is a life-size replica of the Capitoline Juno. On the right of the composition, Naigeon has depicted his little artist’s tool chest, with three drawers containing his tools, his palette knives poking out slightly. At the back, a clock gives the precise time: 12.26. Naigeon paints all these details meticulously and with great refinement; the clothes are also painted with an assured precision and understanding of effect. Overall, there is an impression of the calm, serious and harmonious atmosphere which must have reigned in the studio of an artist described as ‘ambitious and talented’ and ‘with a cold genius’ (letter from Baron de Joursanvault to Jean-George Wille, cited in Louis Morand, 1902, p. 10-12).

The large canvas Naigeon is working on is barely sketched out. It is squared up and only the outlines of the figures are marked out. The artist, holding his palette, seems about to apply the first brushstrokes. The iconography seems to be that of the Death of Socrates: this is the subject he entered for the Prix de Rome des Etats de Bourgogne, when he only won second prize. Is this another way of expressing his disappointment? Whatever the case, the painting on which Naigeon is about to start work in his Self-portrait has not – so far – been found.

The painting was for a long time in the famous collection belonging to Jules Burat (1807-1885), one of the greatest collectors of French seventeenth and eighteenth century painting. He acquired it in 1852 and kept it for the rest of his life. It was bought at the sale after his death by Henri-Alexandre Gérard, nephew of Baron Gérard and founder of the Musée Baron-Gérard in Bayeux.