John Downman

Attention

n.d.
Charcoal with stumping on cream laid paper
38.3 × 27.3 cm (15.1 × 10.7 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

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.”

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