id: 108522
accession number: 1926.229
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1926.229
updated:
Portrait of a Man, c. 1795–1800. Nicholas Freese (British, 1762-after 1824). Watercolor on ivory in a gold frame with glazed hair reverse and opalescent glass over pressed foil and cut gold (or cut paper); framed: 7.6 x 6.5 cm (3 x 2 9/16 in.); unframed: 7 x 5.8 cm (2 3/4 x 2 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of J. H. Wade, Jr., G. G. Wade and Mrs. E. B. Greene 1926.229
title: Portrait of a Man
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: c. 1795–1800
creation date earliest: 1795
creation date latest: 1800
current location:
creditline: Gift of J. H. Wade, Jr., G. G. Wade and Mrs. E. B. Greene
copyright:
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culture: England, late 18th century
technique: watercolor on ivory in a gold frame with glazed hair reverse and opalescent glass over pressed foil and cut gold (or cut paper)
department: European Painting and Sculpture
collection: P - British before 1800
type: Portrait Miniature
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
* Nicholas Freese (British, 1762-after 1824) - artist
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measurements: Framed: 7.6 x 6.5 cm (3 x 2 9/16 in.); Unframed: 7 x 5.8 cm (2 3/4 x 2 5/16 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Intimate Images: Portrait Miniatures from Europe and America
opening date: 1993-03-26T04:00:00
Intimate Images: Portrait Miniatures from Europe and America. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 26-October 17, 1993).
title: Disembodied: Portrait Minatures and their Contemporary Relatives
opening date: 2013-11-10T00:00:00
Disembodied: Portrait Minatures and their Contemporary Relatives. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 10, 2013-February 16, 2014).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* Main European Rotation (Gallery 202), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 30, 2012 - July 23, Verso on display).
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PROVENANCE
J. H. Wade (1857-1926), Cleveland, OH, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art
date: 1895-1926
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: 1926-
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
The back contains a lock of hair arranged as a wheat sheaf cinched with a gold ribbon, over (now cracked) white opalescent glass.
digital description:
wall description:
Little biographical information is available about Nicholas Freese, who is often referred to as N Freese. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy from 1794 to 1814. Royal Academy records identify him as a “painter” rather than a “miniature painter.”
The unknown gentleman in this portrait is painted bust length in three-quarter view and facing right. He wears a blue coat with gold buttons over a white waistcoat and frilled cravat. His eyes are brown, and his powdered hair is worn en queue. There is a slightly yellow pallor to his complexion, and his nose is aquiline. The background is pale gray with a hint of green, executed with crosshatching, particularly near the edges. Freese combined watercolor with gouache, as is visible in the opaque white edges of the frilled cravat. He painted the hair using a technique in which watercolor pigment was applied then lifted away with a brush, creating channels suggesting thick, soft tendrils. The sitter’s bland, pleasant expression is not particularly individualized. His powdered hair and costume indicate that this miniature was executed around 1795–1800, when powdered hair was becoming increasingly unfashionable.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Korkow, Cory, and Jon L. Seydl. British Portrait Miniatures: The Cleveland Museum of Art. 2013.
page number:
url:
Korkow, Cory, and Jon L. Seydl. British Portrait Miniatures: The Cleveland Museum of Art. 2013.
page number: Cat. no. 60, pp. 236-239
url:
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1926.229/1926.229_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1926.229/1926.229_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1926.229/1926.229_full.tif