94 - Jean-Jacques de Boissieu (1736–1810)

Jean-Jacques de Boissieu (1736–1810) Jean-Jacques de Boissieu, portrait of the author. 1796. Etching, drypoint, and roulette. 227 x 285 [282 x 365 mm]. Boissieu-Perez 102; V. Carlson et al., *Regency to Empire: French Printmaking 1715–1814*, The Baltimore Museum of Art and The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1984, no. 112. Superb print on thin laid paper, from the 4th state (of 8), prior to the replacement of the portrait of the artist’s wife with a landscape. Minimal dust and a few rust spots. Good margins (slightly reduced). On the reverse, initials of the dealers Weber and van der Kolk (Lugt 2552) in pencil; Martinet’s initials and a handwritten annotation in the lower right corner in pen and sepia ink; another unidentified initial in red pencil; stamp from the J. Michelin collection (Lugt 1490). AABM stamp (Lugt 3075). "The various states of *Portrait de l’Auteur* document an intriguing artistic shift rather than additions made merely for refinement. The first state is a pure etching [...] In the second and third states, the artist gradually added drypoint and roulette shading. In his self-portrait, de Boissieu holds a copperplate on which a portrait of his wife is drawn. While he was working on this print, his wife died, and in the fifth state, he replaced her portrait with a landscape featuring a cow. [...] In addition to the intimate glimpse of his wife, de Boissieu portrays himself with objects related to his profession and education, including a pen, a book, a bust of a figure from the Laocoön, and engraving tools such as an etching needle and a scraper. This image is rightly regarded as one of the artist’s finest prints..." (J. McKean Fisher, in V. I. Carlson and J. W. Ittmann, eds., *Regency to Empire: French Printmaking 1715–1814*, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1984, p. 310).