Pierre-Etienne Moitte - A Fashionable Couple
Prix régulier €1.400Pierre Etienne Moitte (Paris 1722–1780 Paris)
A Fashionable Couple, 1766
signed "Moitte del 1766” and inscribed with color notations by the artist.
pencil on paper, 19th-century mount.
19.5 x 15.5 cm (7 5/8 x 6 1/8 in)
unframed
Essay:
Pierre Etienne Moitte studied in Paris under Jacques-Firmin Beauvarlet and Pierre-François Beaumont (1719–1769). In 1771, he was accepted (agréé) by the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture and subsequently signed his works as Graveur du Roi. Between circa 1747 and 1754, he was one of the principal engravers commissioned for the Cabinet de S.E.M. Le Comte de Brühl, a collection published in Dresden in 1754. This series consisted of 50 plates after selected paintings from the celebrated collection of Heinrich von Brühl.
Among his contributions were the Mystic Marriage of St Catherine after Correggio, three historical subjects after Jean-Baptiste Corneille, and 11 masterful reproductions of Dutch and Flemish paintings. These included The Dutch Merchantand The Flemish Cook after Gerrit Dou, The Broken Egg after Frans van Mieris the Elder, The Judgement of Paris after Rubens, four landscapes after Jacob van Ruisdael and Guillam Dubois (circa 1610–1680), as well as Travellers' Rest and Horses at the Watering Trough after Philips Wouwerman.
Moitte achieved considerable success in Paris, primarily through reproductions of works by 18th-century French painters such as Nicolas Lancret, François Boucher, and Pierre-Antoine Baudouin. Most notably, he popularized sentimental genre scenes by Greuze, creating prints such as The Wrathful Mother, Repentance, and The Idle Woman. Like many reproductive printmakers of his time, Moitte also engraved illustrations for books. For instance, he contributed 17 plates after drawings by Jean-Baptiste Oudry for the four-volume folio edition of Jean de La Fontaine's Fables, published between 1755 and 1759.
Drawings by Moitte are extremely rare. The color notations on the present drawing suggest that it was intended as a study for a colored engraving.
We believe in simplicity; Therefore, all orders ship to your door without any additional costs for transport. We use professional shipping companies and pack all orders carefully with special art shipping boxes. All prices on our website include international shipping and transport insurance.
Be aware that you as a customer are responsible for paying any taxes such as import tax in the country of destination (applies to orders outside the EU).
