Carter, the Colorman

Charles Beale

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Charles Beale II's remarkable red-chalk studies of family members and friends comprise his most distinguished legacy, though they were not intended for sale or display. Here, he depicted a family friend, George Carter (act. 1680-1742), who sold artists' materials. The intimate approach and distinctive technique are virtually unique in the late Stuart period and relate more closely to Dutch precedents than to the portrait practice of the artist's mother, Mary Beale. Early in his career, the artist worked mainly as a miniaturist and perfected his draftsmanship in drawings like this one, made when he was about twenty years old (others that date between 1679 and 1681 are preserved in sketchbooks at The Morgan Library & Museum and the British Museum). Beale described the face using a tightly hatched web of waxy red lines, treated the hair more broadly, used only a few strokes to suggest the cravat and shirt. His choice of red as the primary tone is striking, and its effect is strengthened by black touches that help define the pupils, nostrils, and ear.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art