Skip to main content
Video Loading
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 10

Attributed to Charles de Steuben (1788-1856) Portrait of a man, oil on canvas

circa 1840

About the Item

Attributed to Charles de Steuben (1788-1856) Portrait of a man, oil on canvas 22 x 18 cm In a modern frame : 35,5 x 31,5 cm The attribution of this small portrait to Charles de Steuben is based on stylistic similarities, and more strangely on the resemblance of the model to a work by the artist, the portrait of Charles the Bald painted for Versailles. The physical resemblance between the two is quite astonishing. The same colours, composition and use of a neutral background can also be found in other portraits of kings painted at Louis Philippe's request for Versailles. There is an obvious kinship with these works. But as is often the case with attribution, there is no documentary evidence to support it. It is therefore always advisable to remain cautious, but in any case it is definitely from this period and this artistic environment. Charles Auguste Guillaume Steuben (German: Carl August Wilhelm von Steuben; April 18, 1788 – November 21, 1856), also Charles de Steuben, was a German-born French Romantic painter and lithographer active from the Napoleonic to Second Empire eras. De Steuben was born the son of the Duke of Württemberg officer Carl Hans Ernst von Steuben. At the age of twelve he moved with his father, who entered Russian service as a captain, to Saint Petersburg, where he studied drawing at the Art Academy classes as a guest student. Thanks to his father's social contacts in the court of the Tsar, in the summer of 1802 he accompanied the young Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1786–1859) and granddaughter of Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg, to the Thuringian cultural city of Weimar, where the Tsar's daughter two years later married Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1783–1853). Steuben, then fourteen years old, was a Page at the ducal court, a position for which the career prospects would be in the military or administration. The poet Friedrich Schiller was a family friend who at once recognized De Steuben's artistic talent and instilled in him his political ideal of free self-determination regardless of courtly constraints. De Steuben in 1812 debuted at the Salon de Paris with his painting of Peter the Great in the storm on Lake Ladoga, which garnered attention in the professional world. Encouraged by this first success, Steuben continued with a number of historical paintings. In 1820 he married a portrait painter named Eleanor Trollé, whom he had met during his training. At the time of their wedding, the couple already had a son, Joseph Alexander (born 1814). At the behest of Pierre Fontaine in 1828 de Steuben painted La Clémence de Henri IV après la Bataille d'Ivry, depicting a victorious Henry IV of France at the Battle of Ivry. De Steuben's Bataille de Poitiers, en octobre 732, painted between 1834 and 1837, shows the triumphant Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours, also known as the Battle of Poitiers. He painted Jeanne la folle around the same time and he was commissioned by Louis Philippe to paint a series of portraits of past Kings of France. Among them the Portrait of Chareles the Bald Life in the French capital was a repeated source of internal conflict for Steuben. The allure of bohemian Paris and his military-dominated upbringing made him a wanderer between worlds. As an official commitment to his adopted country he became a French citizen in 1823. However, the irregularity of his income as a freelance artist was in contrast to his sense of duty and social responsibility. To secure his family financially, he took a job as an art teacher at the École Polytechnique, where he briefly trained Gustave Courbet. In 1840 he was awarded a gold medal at the Salon de Paris for his highly acclaimed paintings. In 1843 Steuben went back to Russia for 11 years. In Saint Petersburg he created seven paintings for the Saint Isaac's Cathedral. After a stroke, the artist returned to Paris in 1854, a sick man, where he suffered two more strokes, and ultimately lost the ability to work. De Steuben died in 1856 at the age of 68 years in his adopted hometown of Paris.
  • Attributed to:
    Charles de Steuben (1788 - 1856, German)
  • Creation Year:
    circa 1840
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 8.67 in (22 cm)Width: 7.09 in (18 cm)
  • Medium:
    Oil
  • Movement & Style:
    Romantic
  • Period:
    1840-1849
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Paris, FR
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: Inv 7521stDibs: LU1112214457392
More From This SellerView All
  • French Romantic School, 19th Century, Manly head of bearded man, oil on canvas
    Located in Paris, FR
    French Romantic School 19th Century Manly head of bearded man oil on canvas 46 x 37.8 cm In fairly good condition, some inpaintings visible under UV light, mainly in the backgrounds ...
    Category

    1850s Romantic Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

    French Romantic School, 19th Century, Manly head of bearded man, oil on canvas

    French Romantic School, 19th Century, Manly head of bearded man, oil on canvas, circa 1850

  • French Romantic School, 19th Century, Portrait of a man, oil on paper
    Located in Paris, FR
    French Romantic School, 19th Century Portrait of a man, a selfportrait ? oil on paper 17.5 x 12 cm oval Framed under glass : 43 x 34.5 cm This rather mysterious portrait is perhaps a self-portrait of the artist who painted it. This is suggested by the three-quarter pose and the gaze fixed on the viewer. What this man seems to be staring at is himself. Similarly, the model's appearance is reminiscent of the image of the romantic, bohemian, tortured artist. It's also very interesting that he used a range of dark colours to reinforce this idea of melancholy. It has been suggested that this small oil on paper is close to the art of François Bonvin (1817-1887) and Théodule Ribot...
    Category

    1860s Romantic Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

    French Romantic School, 19th Century, Portrait of a man, oil on paper

    French Romantic School, 19th Century, Portrait of a man, oil on paper, circa 1860

  • French School 19th Century, Portrait of a Soldier, oil on canvas
    Located in Paris, FR
    French School 19th Century, Portrait of a Soldier, oil on canvas transfered on panel 23.5 x 15.5 cm framed : 32.x 23.8 cm This small painting, undoubtedly a painted sketch, is int...
    Category

    1890s Romantic Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

    French School 19th Century, Portrait of a Soldier, oil on canvas

    French School 19th Century, Portrait of a Soldier, oil on canvas, circa 1890

  • French Romantic School, Portrait of a young priest, dated 1860 oil on canvas
    Located in Paris, FR
    French Romantic School, Portrait of a young priest, 1860 Signed (illegible) and dated 1860 oil on canvas 21.5 x 16 cm In a modern frame : 35 x 29 cm
    Category

    1860s Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

    French Romantic School, Portrait of a young priest, dated 1860 oil on canvas

    French Romantic School, Portrait of a young priest, dated 1860 oil on canvas, 1860

  • French school circa 1930, Portrait of a young man with blue eyes, oil
    Located in Paris, FR
    French school circa 1930 Portrait of a young man with blue eyes Oil on cardboard panel 27 x 21.5 cm Bears a signature (illegible) upper right Framed : 34.5 x 29.5 cm
    Category

    1930s Modern Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

    French school circa 1930, Portrait of a young man with blue eyes, oil

    French school circa 1930, Portrait of a young man with blue eyes, oil , circa 1930

  • 17th Century French School, Saint John the Baptist, oil on copper
    Located in Paris, FR
    17th Century French School Saint John the Baptist in a landscape oil on copper 17 x 11.5 cm In good condition except very small loss of painting in the lower left part In a modern f...
    Category

    1680s Old Masters Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

    17th Century French School, Saint John the Baptist, oil on copper

    17th Century French School, Saint John the Baptist, oil on copper, ciirca 1680

You May Also Like

Recently Viewed

View All

More Ways To Browse

Request A Return
Modern Portrait Of Man
Son Of Man
Son Of A Man
Military Portrait
Portrait Poet
Portrait Of An Old Man
Antique Empire De
Charles Page
French Portrait Of A Man Drawing
Oil Painting 1840
Alexander Young
Weimar Art
Military Battle
German Wurttemberg
Train Russia
Paris Fontaine
Fontaine Antique
View All Popular Figurative Paintings Searches