Le Bateleur (The Street Performer)

c. 1748, published in or after 1754

Charles Germain de Saint-Aubin

Associated Names
Charles Germain de Saint-Aubin

Artist, French, 1721 - 1786

Etienne Fessard

Publisher, French, 1714 - 1777

The image shows a detailed scene with a large butterfly at the center, another butterfly below it, an ornate chair with a goblet to the right, and part of a violin to the left among foliage. A horizontal ladder connects the chair to the foreground. The drawing is in monochrome, with shades of brown and beige, giving it a vintage aesthetic. It features a blend of natural and crafted elements gathered in a whimsical design, with central butterflies holding prominent positions bridging elements with connecting lines.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    plate: 18.2 × 27.4 cm (7 3/16 × 10 13/16 in.)
    sheet: 23.2 × 44.8 cm (9 1/8 × 17 5/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1958.8.125

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Baudicour, no. 3

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, 3 June 1955, no. 68); (via Henri M. Petiet, Paris); Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], Jenkintown, PA; gift to NGA, 1958.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1994

  • Fanciful Flourishes: Ornament in European Graphic Art and Related Objects, 1300-1800, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994, as Le Bateleur.

Bibliography

1859

  • Baudicour, Prosper de. Le peintre-graveur français continue, ou catalogue raisonné des estampes gravees par les peintres et les dessinateurs de l'ecole française nes dans le XVIIIe siècle. 2 vols. Paris, 1859-1861. Reprint, Paris, 1967: Prosper de. Le peintre-graveur français continue, ou catalogue raisonné des estampes gravees par les peintres et les dessinateurs de l'ecole française nes dans le XVIIIe siècle. 2 vols. Paris: Mme Bouchard Huzard, Rapilly [etc.], 1859-1861.

Inscriptions

recto: in plate, in image, at lower center: LE / BATELEUR; verso: at center in brown ink in 18th-century hand: No 94 [?]

Markings

recto: none; verso: National Gallery of Art

Watermarks

to be identified

Wikidata ID

Q65222192

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