Skip to Content
Today Open today 10–11 members | 11–8 public

  • Mon 11–5
  • Tue–Wed Closed
  • Thu 11–8
  • Fri–Sun 11–5
  • The first hour of every day, 10–11 a.m., is reserved for member-only viewing.

Attention

A work made of charcoal with stumping on cream laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

Image actions

  • A work made of charcoal with stumping on cream laid paper.

Date:

n.d.

Artist:

John Downman (English, 1750-1824)
or after Charles Le Brun (French, 1619-1690)

About this artwork

Downman’s drawings appear in the same direction as (and likely reproduce) Jean Audran’s large-scale 1727 etchings after Le Brun. The accompanying text describes the expression of attention thusly: “The effects of attention are to lower and contract the eyebrows toward the sides of the nose, to turn the pupils toward the object that causes (the emotion), to open the mouth, and above all, the top lip, to lower the head little and to keep it steady without other notable changes.”

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

John Downman

Title

Attention

Place

England (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Artist's working dates 1770–1824

Medium

Charcoal with stumping on cream laid paper

Dimensions

38.3 × 27.3 cm (15 1/8 × 10 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

The Leonora Hall Gurley Memorial Collection

Reference Number

1922.1426

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/109136/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.
Learn more

Image actions

Share

Suggested Terms