Henri Lehmann

In January of 1842, Lehmann left Rome to permanently settle in Paris, where he embarked on a successful career as a figurative painter and portraitist of the city's socially prominent personalities, such as Stendahl and Franz Liszt.
In addition to painted portraits shown at the annual Salon, Lehmann also portrayed the family members of close friends on a more intimate scale in informal pencil drawings kept by the families in albums. This sheet is from one such album belonging to the de Perthuis family, a volume whose contents are primarily known through mentions of sessions with sitters in Lehmann's Livre raisonné. Of the first sitter from the family in 1832, Lehmann recorded: "Comte de Perthuis, officier d'ordonnance du roi, plus tard colonel chef d'état-major en Corse." The artist recorded at least six family portraits between 1832 and 1848, noting the month of execution along with the sitter's name. This sheet was unknown when Marie-Madeleine Aubrun prepared her catalogue raisonné of the artist's work.
Aubrun, Marie-Madeleine., and Lehmann, Henri. "Henri Lehmann : 1814-1882 : Catalogue Raisonné De L'œuvre / Marie-Madeleine Aubrun." France]: Association Les Amis De Henri Lehmann, 1984.