Interior of a Farm at Saint-Jean-de-Touslas
Medium
Etching with drypoint; fourth state of four
Dimensions
Sheet: 10 1/16 × 13 3/4 in. (25.6 × 35 cm) Plate: 8 11/16 × 13 1/16 in. (22 × 33.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Algernon S. Sullivan, 1919
Accession Number
19.56.55
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
Jean Jacques de Boissieu’s *Interior of a Farm at Saint-Jean-de-Touslas* invites viewers into a quiet moment of rural life in late-eighteenth-century France. Created in 1793, the etching depicts the bustling yet intimate space of a working farm, where men and women go about their daily tasks alongside goats and horses. The composition draws attention to the textures of wooden beams, straw, and simple furnishings, evoking the rhythms of agricultural existence during a period of significant social change. The work is executed in etching with drypoint, a technique that allowed de Boissieu to achieve both precise lines and soft, velvety tones through the burr raised by the drypoint needle. This impression represents the fourth and final state of the plate, reflecting the artist’s careful refinements to balance light and shadow. Such prints were prized for their ability to reproduce fine detail while making art widely accessible beyond the original drawing. Today, this sheet resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection of drawings and prints, a gift that preserves a vivid record of French provincial life. Its modest scale and warm observation of everyday subjects continue to offer modern audiences a glimpse into the enduring relationship between people, animals, and the land.
About the Artist
Jean Jacques de Boissieu · 1736–1810
French, Lyons 1736–1810 Lyons