Jean Siméon Chardin
French, 1699­1779
Self-Portrait with a Visor
c. 1776
Pastel on blue laid paper mounted on canvas
45.9 x 37.4 cm
Clarence Buckingham Collection and Harold Joachim Memorial Fund, 1984.61

At the end of a long and successful career as a painter of still lifes and genre (daily life) scenes, Chardin’s eyesight began to fail. At the same time, he became allergic to the fumes of oil paint, which forced him to use pastels as his painting material. Pastels are sticks of powdered colors with a small amount of binder. Chardin used pastels boldly as he turned to portraiture as a subject. The most famous of the artist’s compelling studies are self-portraits that show Chardin in casual attire. Here he wears a visor wrapped around his head to shield his failing eyes from the glare of light.