A HUNT FOR PORTRAITS

IN
THE ANDRE MEYER GALLERIES

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

PORTRAITS
A portrait can be painted, drawn, photographed, or sculpted.
Portraits usually tell us something about a person's character. Many
people pose for portraits to commemorate (celebrate) an occasion.
Sometimes artists ask a person to pose as a model. When you look at
portraits, notice how the figures are posed. Are they sitting or
standing? Are they in profile (looking sideways) or are they facing
you directly? Figures can also be depicted from the shoulders up (a
bust) or in full view.
As you walk through the Andre Meyer Galleries, try to find each
of the portraits on your map and answer the questions.
The Andre Meyer Galleries

ENTRANCE

1. Jacques Louis David - GENERAL ETIENNE MAURICE GERARD

(65.14.5)
As you enter the galleries, look to your left for a FULL LENGTH
portrait of a French military officer. Because he is a military officer,
he was painted in his LJ
M. HisM
show that he is a General.
Use the space below to sketch one of the general's medals.

Can you find where the painter L. David signed his name? What is
the date?
When you get home, use the background on the facing page to
draw a similar portrait of yourself or a friend. Bright color markers,
crayons, or paints will stand out against the grey ground.
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-3-

2. Francisco de Goya - DON MANUEL OSORIO MANRIQUE

DEZUNIGA (49.7.41)
Walk straight into the next gallery and look for a portrait of a young
boy in red. His name is Don Manuel and he is posed for his portrait
with different animals. Check below the animals you find.
birds

rabbits

cats
dogs
How many cats do you see?
Can you find where the painter Goya signed his name?
Draw a portrait of your favorite animal.

-4-

3. Edouard Manet - WOMAN WITH A PARROT (89.21.3)

Look at your map to find picture No. 3. What kind of portrait has
Manet painted?
3/4 length
profile (from the side)
full length
frontal (from the front)
What colors has the artist used to paint this picture?
The same model Victorine Meurent posed for the painting of the
bull fighting scene on the right. In which portrait is there more
action? In the space below make a sketch of either painting.

4. Pierre Auguste Renoir - MME. CHARPENTIER AND HER

CHILDREN (07.122)
When you find the large painting of MADAME CHARPENTIER
AND HER CHILDREN, count how many portraits Renoir has
included in the picture.

How has the artist posed his models? Are they standing?
sitting?
dancing?
lying down? _
What is on the table that adds decoration to their living room?

Which figure is looking at you?

5. Edouard Vuillard - PORTRAIT OF VUILLARD AND HIS FRIEND,

VAROQUI (55.173)
Turn around and look for a portrait of an artist holding his palette
and brushes. His friend is standing behind him. In the background of this painting there is a P
Eon the wall
and B
S in a vase.
In fact, it is a bottle and its reflection. You are looking at a mirror
which has the reflection of Vuillard and his friend.
On what surfaces can reflections be found?

-6-

Think about reflections and imagine people looking in a pool of

water and seeing themselves, or looking at something shiny like
a piece of metal or a mirror. Now make a picture of what you
imagine, including the people AND their reflections.

-7-

6. Vincent van Gogh - SELF-PORTRAIT WITH STRAW HAT

(67.187.70a)
Find the portrait of Vincent van Gogh in the middle of the gallery.
(Check your map!) If this is a SELF-PORTRAIT, who painted the picture?
a friend?
Renoir?

the artist, van Gogh?

his brother?

Can you see the artist's brushstrokes?

YES

NO

Check the colors that van Gogh used to paint his SELF-PORTRAIT:
yellow
white

blue

green

red

pink

orange
purple

Van Gogh re-used this canvas two years after he painted the
other side. How are the colors different?

Complete this drawing and create your own SELF-PORTRAIT

WITH A STRAW HAT.
-8-

-9-

7. Paul Cezanne - DOMINIQUE AUBERT (UNCLE DOMINIC)

(53.140.1)
Cezanne painted many members of his family. For this picture,
he asked his uncle to pose wearing a H_
. Cezanne used
both DARK and LIGHT colors to paint the portrait. He also used
very thick paint. The paint was applied so thickly that the surface
of the picture cracked. List at least four colors Cezanne used to
paint this 3/4 view of Uncle Dominic?
What would Uncle Dominic look like wearing a different hat?
Draw another hat for him.

-10-

8. Paul Cezanne - MADAME CEZANNE IN THE CONSERVATORY

(61.101.2)
Cezanne painted his wife in the conservatory (the green house).
Is she standing or sitting?
Cezanne was very concerned with shapes (triangles, squares,
circles). Draw the shape of Madame Cezanne's head.

Look for other shapes in the composition. Try to draw two in the
space below.

Look carefully at Madame Cezanne's hands. The B.

lines are traces of the drawing Cezanne did on the canvas first
before applying colors.
-11-

9. Auguste Rodin - SCULPTED PORTRAITS

Rodin was a sculptor. He sculpted heads, busts (from the
shoulders up), and full-length figures. The portrait heads were
done in plaster, bronze, and marble. Sketch your favorites.

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-13-

When you get home, try to solve this crossword puzzle.

1
2

DOWN
1. A work of art made by a
camera
2. The Metropolitan
of Art
3. An artist who shapes
material
5. A portrait of the artist by
the artist is a
-portrait

ACROSS
1. A painting, photograph, or
sculpture of a particular
person
3. A painter applies paint with
brush
4. Painters' tools
6. An artist who paints
7. Side view
-14-

You may wish to look for more portraits in the Andre Meyer Galleries
and in other galleries in the Museum . . . portraits that are painted,
sculpted, or photographed. Use the space below to sketch your
favorite.

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Cover:
Francisco de Goya. Spanish, 1746-1828
DON MANUEL OSORIO MANRIQUE DE ZUNIGA
The Jules S. Bache Collection, 1949
49.7.41

Prepared by Joannie C. Danielides and Jenni Bidner

Designed by Jenni Bidner
Edited by Elizabeth Flinn
Junior Museum, 1981
This booklet has been funded by Chesebrough-Pond's Inc.