This finely worked drawing is a rare self-portrait by Alexandre-Louis Leloir, executed in charcoal and heightened with delicate hatching to model the features with striking immediacy. The artist presents himself with direct, slightly penetrating gaze, his unruly curls and impressive beard lending an air of youthful confidence and Romantic intensity. The boldly patterned cravat adds further individuality, underscoring the sense of an artist self-consciously shaping his image. Inscribed below, “portrait de Louis Leloir par lui-même”, the sheet records the artist’s own hand turning inward.
Born into one of the great artistic dynasties of 19th-century France, Leloir was the grandson of Alexandre-Marie Colin, son of Auguste Leloir and Héloïse Colin, and brother of Maurice Leloir; his aunt Anaïs Toudouze and cousins Isabelle, Gustave, and Édouard Toudouze were likewise distinguished figures in the arts. Trained first within the family circle and later at the École des Beaux-Arts, he exhibited regularly at the Salon, won repeated honours in the Prix de Rome, and was appointed Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1876. While celebrated for ambitious biblical and historical subjects such as Jacob Wrestling with the Angel (Salon of 1865), he also excelled in genre painting and illustration.
