Provenance
Marie Sterner Galleries, New York by 1938 [illustrated in an advertisement for Sterner Galleries in Art News 36, 26 (1938)]; bought by the Art Institute with Wentworth Greene Field funds, 1947.
Accession Number
60867
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
80.5 × 64.2 cm (31 11/16 × 25 5/16 in.)
Classification
oil on canvas
Credit Line
Wentworth Greene Field Fund
Background & Context
Background Story
Henri Regnault's General Juan Prim (1868) is an oil on canvas equestrian portrait of the Spanish military leader. Regnault was a French academic painter who won the Prix de Rome in 1866 but whose promising career was cut short by his death in the Franco-Prussian War at age 28. This portrait shows General Prim mounted on a horse, captured with dramatic flair and technical bravura. The composition is dynamic, the palette rich and varied.
Cultural Impact
Regnault was one of the most promising French painters of his generation, whose early death cut short a brilliant career.
Why It Matters
This equestrian portrait captures the drama of military command, Regnault's confident brushwork creating a portrait of power and authority.
