Abstract
In 1783, Nicolas De Launay copied Les Baignets by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, stating it was made “by his very humble and very obedient servant”, an evidence of the hierarchical tensions between painters and printmakers during the eighteenth-century. However, De Launay’s loyalty is not absolute, since a critical artistic statement is found at the edge: an illusory oval frame heavily adorned with leaves and fruits of Squash, Hazelnuts, and Oak. This paper wishes to acknowledge this meticulously engraved frame, and many more added to copies throughout De Launay’s successful career, as highly relevant in examining his ‘obedience’ and ‘humbleness’. With regard to eighteenth-century writings on botany and authenticity, and to current studies on the print market, I offer a new perspective in which engravers are appreciated as active commercial artists establishing an individual signature style. In their conceptual and physical marginality these decorations allow creative freedom which challenges concepts of art appropriation and reproduction, highly relevant then and today.
Highlights
Très Humble et très Obéissant ServiteurIn 1783, the Paris engraver and publisher Nicolas de Launay (1739–1792) published an engraving after Les Baignets1 by the celebrated painter Jean Honoré Fragonard (Figure 1).The phrase “by his very humble and very obedient servant”, added by de Launay to the engraving, suggests the hierarchical tension between painters and printmakers during the long eighteenth century.2 a comparison between the print and the original drawing (Figure 2) reveals that his dutiful pledge is not absolute
The engraver introduces a few notable changes to Fragonard’s scene: he redefines the interior space, alters the mother’s dress to reveal her breasts, and adds an illusionistic tree that grows out of the fireplace. He adds his own unique calling card in the form of an oval frame decorated with oak branches, hazelnuts and squash
He adds his own unique calling card in the form of an oval frame decorated with oak branches, hazelnuts and squash.3. This framing device was one of many unique frames de Launay added to prints he published after works by other artists (Lefrançois 1981, pp. 137–38)
Summary
In 1783, the Paris engraver and publisher Nicolas de Launay (1739–1792) published an engraving after Les Baignets by the celebrated painter Jean Honoré Fragonard (Figure 1). The engraver introduces a few notable changes to Fragonard’s scene: he redefines the interior space, alters the mother’s dress to reveal her breasts, and adds an illusionistic tree that grows out of the fireplace He adds his own unique calling card in the form of an oval frame decorated with oak branches, hazelnuts and squash.. This article looks at de Launay’s seemingly peripheral additions, which have been largely ignored in the research, and asks what role the frame plays in relation to the central image and in the overall work. It considers the engraver’s changes and additions vis to the central image and in the overall work.
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