Les Peintres Francais Du XVIII Siecle: Histoire Des Vies Et Catalogue Des Oeuvres. 2 vol.
Paris, Brussels: Van Oest, 1928, 1930. Softcover. 2 volumes. 4to. xii. 405pp. vi. 402pp. Original gray wrappers within modern, acid-free flat box. Spines severely torn, with head of spines missing. Binding still firm. Browning, scuffing and rubbing to wrappers. Corners bumped and rubbed. Occasional foxing to pages, not affecting text. Forepage edges untrimmed. Fascinating antology of French painters of the 18th century. Includes biographical entries and reproduction of paintings of renowned masters as Detroy, Grimou, Lemoine, Meisonnier, Nattier, Subleyras,Toro and Watteua. Especially Bernard Picart should be mentioned here: Bernard Picart (1673 - 1733). Painter, draughtsman and engraver, son of the famous engraver, Etienne Picart. He studied drawing at the Académie Royale and engraving with his father and with Benoît Audran I and Sébastien Leclerc, through whom he obtained many commissions. His first signed engraving (1693) was the Hermaphrodite after Poussin. Born in Paris into Catholicism, he was drawn to Protestantism relatively early in his life, which was one of the reasons why, in 1696, he left France. The Antwerp academy awarded Picart a prize for drawing, and he executed several engravings there, before moving in 1698 to the Netherlands, where he worked mainly on book illustrations. At the end of that year he returned to France. Having been widowed late in the year 1708, he set off again on a journey to Sweden, but he went no further than the Netherlands; Picart was in The Hague in 1710 and settled in Amsterdam the following year, converting to the Protestant faith and marrying again. Picart "earned a place in the history of Jewish art by its realistic portrayal of Jewish religiouos rites. These constitute an invaluable record of Dutch Jewry in the early eighteenth century." [Encyclopedia Judaica. 13, 498] However, he is also known for his engravings on other faiths, both monotheistic and non-monotheistic, from the West as well as from the East. Magnificently illustrated with many b/w plates of paintings. In French. Spines in poor, wrappers in fair, book in good condition. fair. Item #14706
Price: $175.00