Scenes from the Tuileries: The Chairs and the Water Cart
1760, retouched 1763
Medium
Two etchings from one plate, touched with drypoint on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Images: 19.5 × 19.3 cm (7 11/16 × 7 5/8 in.); Plate: 20.7 × 19.5 cm (8 3/16 × 7 11/16 in.); Sheet: 21.4 × 20.5 cm (8 7/16 × 8 1/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
111067
Art Historical Context
Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin *Scenes from the Tuiler: The Chairs and the Cart* (1760, retouched 1763) offers a delightful glimpse into 18th-century Parisian life This pair of etchings, printed from a single plate on ivory laid paper captures two vignettes from theileries Gardens—a beloved public oasis in the heart of Paris. Measuring about 7 11/16 × 7 5/8 inches each, the images evoke the leisurely rhythms of urban recreation just before the French Revolution. Saint-Aubin, a prolific French engraver and illustrator active in the Rococo era, excelled at witty, observational prints of everyda...
About the Artist
Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin · 1724–1780
Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin (14 April 1724 – 14 February 1780) was born in Paris into an artistic family — one of fourteen children of the court embroiderer and engraver G.-G. de Saint-Aubin. Art ran deep in the family: his brothers Charles Germain and Augustin de Saint-Aubin were also accomplished artists. Gabriel received his earliest training at home before entering the studios of Étienne Je...