Au Moins Soyez Discret (At Least be Discreet)
Medium
Etching and engraving on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 33.7 × 24.6 cm (13 5/16 × 9 11/16 in.); Plate: 36.5 × 26.4 cm (14 3/8 × 10 7/16 in.); Sheet: 42.6 × 31.8 cm (16 13/16 × 12 9/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
30045
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This portrait and its companion print Depend on My Promises (1926.918) are likely based on sketches of Augustin de Saint-Aubin and his wife in their youth. The prints depict two fashionable young lovers murmuring sweet nothings to each other as daybreak brings their tryst to an end. The figures lean toward each other in their respective oval frames as if to break the barrier separating them before parting. The prints are deliciously ambiguous, for the young man may or may not intend to keep the ...
About the Artist
Augustin de Saint-Aubin · 1736–1807
Comment on works: Illustrator; Engraver