Portrait of an Unknown Man
Artist
José Francisco Xavier de Salazar y Mendoza
(Spanish, born in Mexico, active in Louisiana, about 1750–1802)
Date1778
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionscanvas: 92.7 x 71.8 cm (36 1/2 x 28 1/4 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1924.26
Label TextAlthough the identity of this impassive, yet confident man is unknown, he is probably a wealthy landowner or official in New Orleans which was a Spanish colonial possession from 1763-1803. The maker of this portrait, José Salazar was born in Mérida, Mexico, in the Yucatan Peninsula. He moved to New Orleans early in his career and is the first documented artist working in that city. The artist’s daughter and son-in-law are also known to have painted in New Orleans. The slightly stiff drawing and doll-like pose of the sitter, as well as the oval opening that frames him, all signal that Salazar likely based the portrait on an engraving done after an aristocratic Spanish portrait.ProvenanceLawson-Fish Sale, no. 193, American Art Galleries, NY, April 2-3, 1924. Museum purchase through Bourgeois Galleries, NY, May 7, 1924.On View
On view
