Gabriel de Saint-Aubin Portrait of Germain-Augustin and Rose de Saint-Aubin, drawn by their uncle 1766 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
"During the Rococo period, French artists frequently depicted children, sometimes at play and spontaneous in their gestures and expressions, but also engaged in study, their education the foundation for the future of society. In 1766, Saint-Aubin, a draftsman and chronicler of Parisian cultural life, drew a portrait of his niece and nephew in profile. Based on preparatory studies made after life, this finished drawing presents the children as well educated and well behaved, with the restraint and self-confidence of adults. Rose, seated at right, holds a hurdy-gurdy, a musical instrument popular in the eighteenth century."
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin L'Escalier 1778-79 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
"Admired for his impromptu sketches of daily life in Paris, Saint-Aubin produced one of the liveliest and most insightful records of ancien-régime France. This vignette captures an elegant young woman, accompanied by a small boy and a dog, as she lifts the hem of her skirt and prepares to ascend a curving stone stair to a sunlit park."
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin Four Vases 1754 etching Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin Figures in the Portico of Sainte Geneviève le Panthéon, Paris 1776-79 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin Les fêtes vénitiennes after 1759 watercolor and gouache Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin Allegory of Louis XV as patron of the arts with paintings and sculpture from the Salon of 1769 ca. 1769 oil paint over chalk on paper Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
"Ironically, it was Gabriel de Saint-Aubin, whose aspirations to become a member of the Académie Royale were never realized, who provided posterity with visual records of the biennial Salons held in the Palais du Louvre to showcase new work by its members. His drawings of the Salons ranged from fully realized views of the exhibitions with visitors to thumbnail sketches of individual works made in the margins of the accompanying brochures. This work is a hybrid, in which sketches of paintings and sculptures on view in the Salon of 1769 were initially drawn in chalk in bands across the sheet, then later worked up in oil paint, and finally embellished with allegorical figures of the arts descending upon clouds to honor King Louis XV as a great patron, presenting his portrait to the viewer."
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin Vignette pour une adresse 1752 etching Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin A conference of lawyers 1776 etching Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin Allegorie sur la convalescence du Dauphin 1752 etching Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin Allegory on the marriage of the Dauphin and Marie-Antoinette 1770 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
attributed to Gabriel de Saint-Aubin Design for a monument before 1780 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin La colère de Neptune - Fontaine 1767 etching Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin Le scélérat Damiens (Robert-François Damiens, attempted assassin of Louis XV) 1757 etching Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin Coronation Regalia carried in procession at Saint-Denis 1775 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
– quoted texts from curator's notes at the Metropolitan Museum