Portrait de Félix Ravaisson-Mollien

Jean-Jacques Henner's portrait of Félix Ravaisson-Mollien (1889) depicts one of the most influential French philosophers of the nineteenth century — Ravaisson was a central figure in the spiritualist philosophy that counterbalanced French positivism, and his work on habit and the aesthetic sense shaped generations of French intellectual life including the young Bergson. Henner, a significant figure in the French art world, was well-connected with the intellectual establishment, and his portrait of the aged philosopher captures a man of profound thought at the end of his life.

Henner applies his characteristic soft-focus, sfumato technique to the portrait subject — the philosopher's aged face rendered with the same atmospheric dissolution he brought to his mythological nudes, though here serving contemplative psychological depth rather than sensuous beauty. His handling of the aged face — its lines and character — through gradual tonal transition creates a portrait of genuine psychological presence.