August Bournonville

What you are looking at

This is a portrait engraving of a single male figure, shown from the shoulders up against a plain beige background. The man is rendered in three-quarter view facing slightly left, with dark hair parted and swept back, and sharp, defined facial features. He wears formal nineteenth-century dress: a dark jacket with a notched lapel, a white shirt front, and a black bow tie. A small pin or badge is visible on the jacket. The engraving technique creates soft modeling through parallel lines of varying density, giving the face volume and the hair a lustrous quality. The composition is austere and frontal—the figure occupies the center of the frame with no gesture, no setting, no action. Below the portrait, in small capitals, is the name 'August Bournonville.'

The dancing

The subject is motionless and faces the viewer with a composed, serious expression. There is no body movement, no dance posture, and no indication of physical action. The shoulders are held straight; the arms are not visible. The image is a formal portrait, not a depiction of dancing or choreographic work.

The dance depicted

This is a portrait of August Bournonville (1805–1879), the Danish ballet master and choreographer who was one of the most influential figures in nineteenth-century dance. Bournonville was director of the Royal Danish Ballet and created a distinctive method and aesthetic known as the Bournonville style, which emphasizes lyricism, speed, and a particular use of épaulement. The image itself does not depict dance or demonstrate his technique; it is a commemorative portrait recording his appearance, likely made during his lifetime or shortly after. The image tells us nothing about his choreography or how his dancers performed.

How it was made

This is an engraving, a reproductive print technique using parallel lines and cross-hatching to create tone and model form. The soft, almost velvety finish of the face and the delicate gradations of the background suggest a skilled practitioner, probably working from a painted portrait or photograph. Engravings of this type were the standard way to circulate portraits of notable figures before photography became widely available for reproduction. This work would have been one of many such prints made to commemorate Bournonville, likely sold to audiences interested in dance history or performers trained in his method.

About this work

This is a formal portrait engraving of August Bournonville, the Danish choreographer and ballet master whose name is synonymous with one of the nineteenth century's most coherent and enduring approaches to classical ballet. The image records his face and bearing at a moment when his influence on European ballet was at its height. Though the work itself contains no choreographic content, Bournonville's historical significance justifies its inclusion in a dance archive: his legacy is visible in the technique and repertoire of the Royal Danish Ballet to the present day, and his method remains a living school of dance training.

How to look at it

This is a commemorative portrait, not an action image. The viewer should attend to the formality of the pose and dress, which places Bournonville within the professional and social hierarchy of his time—not as a performer, but as a master and director. The slight turn of the head and the direct gaze suggest authority and thoughtfulness. The simplicity of the composition emphasizes the face and the authority it represents, rather than any detail of costume or setting.

The artist

The artist is not recorded in the catalogue. The quality and finish of the engraving suggest a professional workshop, possibly Danish or European, active in the mid-to-late nineteenth century. The style and technique are consistent with commemorative portraiture of the period, likely made for circulation among ballet professionals and patrons.

The period

August Bournonville's career spanned the Romantic era of ballet and extended into the late nineteenth century. He worked during a period when ballet was moving away from the abstract spectacle toward narrative and character; his own ballets—La Sylphide (1836), Napoli (1842), and others—blended pantomime, character dance, and classical technique in ways that made ballet accessible and dramatically coherent. This portrait dates from a moment when dance was becoming an art form worthy of historical documentation, and when the names and faces of choreographers began to be recorded and circulated to the public.

Where it lives

The work is held in the New York Public Library's Prints collection under the subject heading 'Prints depicting dance.' It is a reproductive engraving of the type that would have been sold individually or in compilations of notable figures.

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