Andre Joseph Villard

David Boudon, Andre Joseph Villard, 1810-1812, silverpoint and watercolor on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Frederick W. Cron, 1961.9.1
Copied David Boudon, Andre Joseph Villard, 1810-1812, silverpoint and watercolor on paper, sight 2 782 14 in. (7.35.7 cm) oval, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Frederick W. Cron, 1961.9.1
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Artwork Details

Title
Andre Joseph Villard
Artist
Date
1810-1812
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sight 2 782 14 in. (7.35.7 cm) oval
Credit Line
Gift of Frederick W. Cron
Mediums
Mediums Description
silverpoint and watercolor on paper
Classifications
Subjects
  • Portrait male — Villard, Andre Joseph — bust
Object Number
1961.9.1

Artwork Description

Silverpoint was an unusual medium for a miniaturist, yet more than half of David Boudon’s work incorporates this exacting drawing technique. To draw with silverpoint, the artist took a wooden stick fitted with a silver tip and drew on his prepared paper. The pale, silvery lines quickly tarnished, leaving a darker, warm brown color. Andre Joseph Villard appears to have been a wealthy Virginia planter. In 1794 his daughter Constance married fellow Virginian William Hutt, who moved the family to Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1799.