Le Duc Uberto Strozzi

Romaine Brooks, Le Duc Uberto Strozzi, 1961, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1968.18.7
Romaine Brooks, Le Duc Uberto Strozzi, 1961, oil on canvas, 45 3839 14 in. (115.299.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1968.18.7

Artwork Details

Title
Le Duc Uberto Strozzi
Date
1961
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
45 3839 14 in. (115.299.8 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the artist
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Portrait male — Strozzi, Uberto
  • Occupation — other — aristocrat
Object Number
1968.18.7

Artwork Description

Brooks met Uberto Strozzi, a descendant of the noble Renaissance Florentine family of art collectors and patrons, while living in Italy during World War II. In 1961, at the age of eighty-seven, Brooks returned to painting after nearly thirty years to produce this final portrait of her longtime friend. The simple, monumental composition of the sitter in profile view, the nuanced gray tonalities, and delicately layered paint continue the artist's lifelong commitment to creating strong and quietly elegant portraits in a spare visual style. The sketchiness of the surface, the duke's slightly slumped pose, and the blurriness of his expression suggest a poignant mood of faded privilege, remembrance, and old age.

The Art of Romaine Brooks, 2016

Works by this artist (12 items)

Joseph Dankowski, Untitled (wat supply), gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Endowment for the Arts, 1983.63.362, © Joseph Dankowski
Untitled (wat supply)
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Joseph Dankowski, Untitled (Abstract Folds), gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Endowment for the Arts, 1983.63.367, © Joseph Dankowski
Untitled (Abstract Folds)
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Joseph Dankowski, Untitled (water, paper, curb), gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Endowment for the Arts, 1983.63.365, © Joseph Dankowski
Untitled (water, paper, curb)
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Joseph Dankowski, Untitled (water, curb), gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Endowment for the Arts, 1983.63.364, © Joseph Dankowski
Untitled (water, curb)
gelatin silver print
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Marcus Root, Caroline Lamb Norris, ca 1855, daguerreotype with tinting, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Charles Isaacs and Carol Nigro, 1999.86.2
Caroline Lamb Norris
Artist
Attributed to Marcus Root
Dateca 1855
daguerreotype with tinting
Not on view
Bently
Dateca. 1975
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, Untitled, ca. 1945-1950, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Lewis and Jean Greenblatt, 2002.86.9
Untitled
Dateca. 1945-1950
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, Untitled, ca. 1945-1950, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Lewis and Jean Greenblatt, 2002.86.7
Untitled
Dateca. 1945-1950
gelatin silver print
Not on view