Carolus-Duran | View of Venice

Carolus-Duran was among the most celebrated portrait painters working in Paris in the 1870s.

With his casual pose and elegant clothing, he is presented as a dandy or fashionable man-about-town.

On his lapel he wears the red pin of the French Legion of Honour, awarded for his contribution to the arts. Sargent studied with Carolus-Duran, launching his own career by exhibiting this portrait to great acclaim.

Along the top, he added an inscription paying homage to his teacher and describing himself as an “affectionate pupil”.

One of the most distinguished artistic figures of our time is that of Charles Auguste Emile Duran, or, as he has chosen to Latinize and abreviate his name, Carolus Duran.

He was born at Lille in 1837, and first studied there under the direction of the old painter Souchon. Souchon was famous as a copyist of the old masters, and he impressed their study on his pupil as more valuable than the direct instruction of any living artist.

The youth made rapid progress under his advice, and in 1853 went to Paris, where he appears to have subsisted by the sale of his copies, doing little other painting, but associating much with other art students. said to be numerless, and they are headed by the coveted Medal of Honor, which was awarded him in 1879.

He has been an Officer of the Legion of Honor since 1878. His wife, Mme. Pauline Marie Carolus Duran, who was born at St. Petersburg, is also a painter of merit.

Carolus-Duran | Sketch of Édouard Manet, 1877