Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, son of a mason and lace maker, began his artistic training under the architect Jean-Baptiste Bernard at the Académie de Valenciennes. In 1838, his family moved to Paris, where Carpeaux joined the Petite École and befriended the sculptors Henri Chapu and Albert Carrier-Belleuse. After a brief stint in François Rude’s studio, in 1844 he won a competition to attend the École des Beaux-Arts, where he studied under Francisque Duret. Though predominantly focused on sculpture, Carpeaux also cultivated a deep interest in drawing and painting, and regularly found himself copying works by Eugène Delacroix and Théodore Géricault. In 1856, after winning the Prix de Rome, Carpeaux moved to Rome, where he developed a passion for Renaissance art and Michelangelo, with the Sistine Chapel influencing his interest in painting. His painted works, mostly featuring himself, friends, and family, remained largely private.
This representation of the artist alongside his wife, Amélie de Montfort (1847–1908), reflects Carpeaux’s interest in the representation of himself and of those closest to him. He met the young aristocrat at the court of Napoleon III in January 1869. The embodiment of his search for ideal beauty, she rapidly became his muse and, after a two-month engagement, they married in a grand ceremony in April, with Alexandre Dumas fils and Charles Garnier as witnesses. However, their relationship, fraught with emotional instability, soon soured due to the negative influence of Carpeaux’s disapproving parents.
In this intimate Self-portrait, Carpeaux expresses his love, admiration, and devotion to his newfound life companion. The youthful rendering of Amélie de Montfort discloses the artist’s playful take on the substantial age difference between the two: her round cheeks, hair ribbons, full lips, and naïve gaze contrast with his frontal depiction, in which his prominent beard and balding forehead emphasise his older age. Furthermore, in our intimate portrait, the artist skilfully juxtaposes Montfort’s pale skin, blonde hair, white dress, and genuine countenance with the artist’s darker skin tone, brown hair, black costume, and penetrating gaze. The embrace that brings the two lovers closer is, nonetheless, warm and tender, as is the artist’s use of a brown palette and creamy brushwork, which ultimately reveals Carpeaux’s affection and vulnerability.
About a dozen self-portraits of the artist exist, most of which are held in major public institutions, notably the Musée d’Orsay, the Petit Palais, and the Musée de Valenciennes. Our Self-portrait is one of the rarest and latest examples still in a private collection.