Alfred Dehodencq ( 1822-1882) Portrait Of The Artsite's Son, Edmond. Oil On Canvas, Circa 1870

Alfred Dehodencq (1822-1882) occupies a singular place in 19th-century French painting.Trained in the studio of Léon Cogniet, he quickly distinguished himself dramatic subjects and a vibrant palette, inspired by his long stay in a long stay in Spain and Morocco between 1849 and 1863. Thisimmersion in Iberian light and traditions made him abetween the flamboyant romanticism of Delacroix and the frank modernity of Édouard Manet - two artists two artists with whom he shares a taste for deep black, sharp contrasts

This portrait depicts his son Edmond Dehodencq, nicknamed "the Mozart of painting" during his lifetime for his exceptionalexceptional precociousness (he exhibited at the Salon from the age of 11). Edmond showed remarkable talent from an early agepromising a brilliant career. Unfortunately, like thethe Austrian composer to whom he was compared, he diedprematurely at the age of 27, leaving behind the image of a genius cut down in his tracks.

This painting is fully in keeping with the vogue for Spanish painting French art in the 1860s and 1870s. Sincethe opening of Louis-Philippe's Spanish Gallery and artists' travelsthe Pyrenees, Vélasquez, Zurbarán and Goya have become majorbecame major references for an entire generation.

Their lessons are found here:

• The dark, almost black background, which isolates the figure and focuses the light on the face
• The free, unctuous brushstrokes, particularly in the treatment of the white collar and the book's pages
• The restricted chromatic range - browns, blacks, off-whites - heightened by the brilliance of the red-covered book

Dehodencq, his Sevillian and Madrid years, mastered this aesthetic with an easewith an ease that brings him as close to Manet - whose Olympia and Fifre draw on the same sources - as to Carolus-Duran or Bonnat, who were in fact his friends.

The absence of a signature on this suggests that it was intended to remain within the family circle, neverfamily circle, never intended for exhibition or sale. Thishypothesis is reinforced by young Edmond's natural, relaxed pose Edmond's natural, relaxed pose: chin resting on hand, pensive gaze,the attitude of a child caught in a reverie rather than frozen in a formal posture.posture.

There is a discreet tendernessa discreet tenderness, that of a father observing his son with movedattention. The half-open book, a classic attribute of studyand intellectual promise, takes on a poignant resonance herethe tragic fate of the model.

This portrait thus portrait thus constitutes a precious testimony: a document of an artist'sthe intimacy of an artist too often reduced to his orientalist scenes,it also illustrates the enduring Spanish influence on Frenchthe talent of a young prodigy whose untimely death has deprived

Some comparative works

Our research at the Musée d'Orsay has enabled us to find a reproduction of a painting (see photos) very similar to ours, almost a variant. We find the young artist, seated at his desk, his gaze thoughtful and melancholy.