L'Escalier (The Curving Stair)

Art Historical Context

Gabriel de Saint-Aubin’s *L’Escalier (The Curving Stair)* offers a charming glimpse into everyday Parisian life in the final decades of the ancien régime. Created between 1778 and 1779, the small drawing depicts women ascending or descending a gracefully curving staircase, a motif that allowed the artist to explore both architectural form and the subtle interactions of figures in motion. Saint-Aubin, celebrated for his quick, observant sketches of contemporary society, often captured fleeting moments that reveal the rhythms of eighteenth-century urban existence. The work’s delicate technique—combining black chalk, pen and ink, watercolor, and touches of gouache—demonstrates Saint-Aubin’s mastery in creating luminous effects and spatial depth within a compact format of just 7⅜ by 4⅞ inches. Such mixed-media drawings were prized by collectors for their spontaneity and intimacy, qualities that distinguish them from more formal oil paintings of the period. Acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art through the generosity of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, this sheet exemplifies the Enlightenment-era fascination with genre scenes that celebrated ordinary elegance and human movement.

About the Artist

Gabriel de Saint-Aubin · 1724–1780

Gabriel de Saint-Aubin (1724–1780) was one of the most vivid and irrepressible graphic artists of eighteenth-century France, a tireless draughtsman whose sketchbooks and prints constitute an extraordinary visual chronicle of Parisian life during the Ancien Régime. Born into a family with strong connections to the decorative arts — his father was an embroiderer to the king — Saint-Aubin received fo...