Portrait of Alfred de Musset (1810-1857)

c. 1850s

Portrait of Alfred de Musset (1810-1857), c. 1850s. Alexandre Bida (French, 1823–1895). Black chalk and graphite with stumping, watercolor, gouache, and fabricated colored chalk on medium weight wove paper; overall: 43.6 x 30.7 cm (17 3/16 x 12 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2019.62 This portrait is one of only a few that Alexandre Bida—known primarily for his depictions of North Africa—created during his career. It depicts the celebrated French poet and novelist Alfred de Musset (1810–1857). Bida was commissioned to create illustrations for an 1865 publication of Musset’s collected writings, and the drawing was likely completed in commemoration of that project. Alexandre Bida was an accomplished illustrator and produced images to accompany an 1865 edition of the works of Alfred de Musset, this portrait’s sitter.