François-Philippe CHARPENTIER

(1734 Blois – 1817 Paris)

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Les Grâces – 1766

After François Boucher.

Etching and aquatint in brown. Published by Pierre-François Basan.

Size of sheet: 29 x 21 cm.

Le Blanc 1:3; IFF IV :35; Ananoff Vol.II.523/6.

Comparative impressions: Minneapolis Institute of Art Collection - P.92.1.3; National Gallery of Art – inv.no.2018:91.18; Harvard Art Museum – inv.no.2019.173.

Fine early impression in a recently invented technique of aquatint on thin laid paper, trimmed within the platemark. Rare.

François-Philippe Charpentier: Les Grâces [The Graces]

This print was announced in l’Avant-Coureur on 15 September 1766 (p.577) together with several other aquatints after Boucher and Fragonard. In this print Charpentier managed to translate with remarkable fidelity the dynamism and style of a wash drawing “L’Amour porté par les Grâces” by François Boucher (A. Ananoff, François Boucher, Lausanne, Paris, 1976, no. 523/5, fig. 1451).

The original drawing of Les Grâces, formely in Hubert Guerrand-Hermès Collection, was sold at Sotheby’s Paris (sale of the collection Hubert Guerrand-Hermes, L’hotel de Lannion, lot 120, 14 dec 2023).

Charpentier was an engraver and inventor. His work on developing a technique for making wash-manner prints earned him a lodging at the Louvre and a royal pension. He made a few inventions related to the field of engraving, the first being a mechanical process for engraving in aquatint (gravure au lavis) and in colour. After making many prints using the technique, he sold the secret. After that he dedicated his life solely to mechanics and inventions.

François-Philippe Charpentier: Les Grâces [The Graces]

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