Born to Belgian parents in the city of Roubaix in northern France, Jean-Joseph Weerts made his Salon debut in 1872 and became a successful portrait and history painter. Noted for their verisimilitude, his portraits included leading political and society figures. Among Weerts' most famous works is his 1880 depiction of L'assassinat de Marat, now in the collection of the Musée d'Art et d'Industrie, Roubaix.



Praised by the critics at the Salon in 1890, his portrait of Dominique Jean-Baptiste Hugues (1849–1930) shows the sculptor at ease in his studio, leaning against his marble sculpture Oedipus à Colone. A pupil of Dumont and Bonassieux, Hugues first exhibited his sculptural work at the Salon in Paris in 1878 and went on to win numerous national awards. His grand sculpture of Oedipus was completed in 1885, and was later exhibited at the Musées nationaux in 1888, the Musée du Luxembourg in 1890 and the Musée du Louvre in 1931. Today, it can be found at the Musée d'Orsay, Paris (inv. no. RF 842, LUX 128).



The present portrait was made in response to a bronze bust Hugues had made of Weerts, exhibited at the Salon six years earlier. Executed in warm and subtle tones of brown and cream, the painting gives a vivid impression of the array of objects in the busy studio. Hugues is surrounded by sculpted figures at different scales, drawing the viewer’s eye around the composition.