Paysage
18th century
Medium
Stipple engraving printed in red ink
Dimensions
Sheet: 12 3/8 × 17 1/2 in. (31.5 × 44.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1965
Accession Number
65.646.6
Art Historical Context
**Paysage**, a captivating 18th-century landscape print, showcases the collaborative talents of French artist Jean-Baptiste Huet I known for his idyllic pastoral scenes, and engraver Gilles Demarteau Created during the Rococo era's twilight, when elegance met emerging Neoclassical restraint, this work exemplifies how prints democratized art for a wider audience beyond oil paintings. The medium—a stipple engraving printed in red ink—is particularly noteworthy. Stipple technique employs fine dots to build subtle tones and textures, mimicking the softness of chalk drawings (or "crayon manner"). ...
About the Artist
Gilles Demarteau|Jean-Baptiste Huet I · 1729–1776
Gilles Demarteau the Elder, born on January 19, 1722, in Liège, began his career steeped in the craft of metalwork. The son of a gunsmith, he learned engraving and goldsmithing from his father before moving to Paris around 1748–1750 to join his brother, who worked as a goldsmith for the engraver De Lacollombe, renowned for firearm ornament designs. Demarteau trained in De Lacollombe's workshop as ...