{
"data": {
"id": 160068,
"accession_number": "1997.42",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Mr. Leroux in the Role of Alceste in Le Misanthrope, mid-1850s. Julien Vallou de Villeneuve (French, 1795\u20131866). Albumen print from wax paper negative; image: 14.4 x 12.1 cm (5 11/16 x 4 3/4 in.); matted: 45.7 x 35.6 cm (18 x 14 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1997.42",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Mr. Leroux in the Role of Alceste in Le Misanthrope",
"creation_date": "mid-1850s",
"creation_date_earliest": 1854,
"creation_date_latest": 1858,
"artists_tags": [
"male"
],
"culture": [
"France, 19th century"
],
"technique": "albumen print from wax paper negative",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Photography",
"collection": "Photography",
"type": "Photograph",
"measurements": "Image: 14.4 x 12.1 cm (5 11/16 x 4 3/4 in.); Matted: 45.7 x 35.6 cm (18 x 14 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"image": {
"height": 0.144,
"width": 0.121
},
"matted": {
"height": 0.457,
"width": 0.356
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [
{
"inscription": "Written in negative: \"J. V. de Villeneuve\"; in black ink on recto of mount: \"Mr. Leroux (le misanthrope)\"",
"inscription_translation": null,
"inscription_remark": null,
"sortorder": null
}
],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 188432,
"title": "19th-Century French Portrait Photography from the Cleveland Museum of Art",
"description": "19th-Century French Portrait Photography from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 27-August 9, 2000).",
"opening_date": "2000-05-27T00:00:00"
},
{
"id": 197576,
"title": "France at the Dawn of Photography",
"description": "France at the Dawn of Photography. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 4, 2009-January 24, 2010).",
"opening_date": "2009-10-04T00:00:00"
},
{
"id": 286506,
"title": "Cheating Death: Portrait Photography\u2019s First Half Century",
"description": "Cheating Death: Portrait Photography\u2019s First Half Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 22, 2016-February 5, 2017).",
"opening_date": "2016-10-22T04:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": []
},
"provenance": [],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": null,
"description": "Leroux was a star of the Com\u00e9die-Fran\u00e7aise, the most important theater in France. He is seen here around age 35 as the lead in Moli\u00e8re\u2019s play The Misanthrope, a classic 17th-century play that satirizes the character flaws of the French aristocracy. As in the portrait of Bernhardt nearby, subtle aspects of pose, expression, and costuming create the character. Vallou de Villeneuve began his career as a painter and lithographer, then established himself in photography specializing in nude studies for artists, genre subjects, and portraits of actors. His prints are generally small and meant for viewing in an album rather than displaying on a wall. This portrait probably came from a theater lover\u2019s album of French actors.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q79980681"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1997.42-mr-leroux-in-the-rol"
]
},
"citations": [],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1997.42",
"images": {
"annotation": null,
"web": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1997.42/1997.42_web.jpg",
"width": "753",
"height": "893",
"filesize": "459083",
"filename": "1997.42_web.jpg"
},
"print": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1997.42/1997.42_print.jpg",
"width": "2866",
"height": "3400",
"filesize": "1944340",
"filename": "1997.42_print.jpg"
},
"full": {
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1997.42/1997.42_full.tif",
"width": "2973",
"height": "3527",
"filesize": "31489668",
"filename": "1997.42_full.tif"
}
},
"alternate_images": [],
"creditline": "John L. Severance Fund",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
"sketchfab_url": null,
"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 160068,
"creators": [
{
"id": 1046,
"description": "Julien Vallou de Villeneuve (French, 1795\u20131866)",
"extent": null,
"qualifier": null,
"role": "artist",
"biography": "Julien Vallou de Villeneuve French, 1795-1866\r\n\r\nA painter who exhibited at the Paris Salons from 1814-40, Julien Vallou de Villeneuve (born in Boissy-Saint-L\u00e9ger) was later known as a lithographer. He became interested in photography in 1842, shortly after the new medium's invention, as an aid to his graphic work. His subjects included fashion, costume, and daily life, as well as light erotica, sometimes published in conjunction with other artists.\r\n\tBy 1850 Vallou de Villeneuve had begun to practice photography in his studio, primarily female nudes and portraits of actors. In 1853-54 he published a series of nude studies, \u00c9tudes d'apr\u00e8s nature, which were sold as artists models and to the general public. Several were used for well-known works by Gustave Courbet. Vallou de Villeneuve's works are admired for their emotional restraint, as well as for their masterful orchestration of form. A member of the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 h\u00e9liographique in 1851, he helped found the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 fran\u00e7aise de photographie in 1854. T.W.F.",
"name_in_original_language": null,
"birth_year": "1795",
"death_year": "1866",
"use_in_caption": true,
"include_extent": false,
"weight": 1
}
],
"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "1997-03-04T00:00:00",
"sortable_date": 1854,
"date_added_to_oa": null,
"date_text": "mid-1850s",
"collapse_artists": false,
"on_loan": false,
"recently_acquired": false,
"record_type": "object",
"conservation_statement": null,
"has_conservation_images": false,
"cover_accession_number": null,
"is_nazi_era_provenance": false,
"impression": null,
"alternate_titles": [],
"is_highlight": false,
"updated_at": "2026-03-27 00:07:39.760000"
}
}