Rendezvous in the Palais Royal
Medium
black chalk and graphite with stumping, pen and brown ink, and touches of white chalk, on laid paper
Dimensions
overall: 22.4 x 14.7 cm (8 13/16 x 5 13/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1961.17.64
Art Historical Context
In the heart of 18th-century, Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin's *Rendezvous in Palais Royal* (1774) captures a moment of courtship amid the pleasure gardens of the Palais Royal This lively public arcade, a favorite haunt for fashionable Parisians, aristocrats, and lovers, buzzed with flirtations, shopping, and intrigue just years before the French Revolution.-Aubin, a masterman of the Rococo (1724–1780), in chronicling everyday urban life, from theater scenes to street fashion, making his works invaluable windows into pre-Revolutionary social mores. Rendered on laid paper in black chalk and gr...
About the Artist
Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin · 1724–1780
Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin (14 April 1724 – 14 February 1780) was born in Paris into an artistic family — one of fourteen children of the court embroiderer and engraver G.-G. de Saint-Aubin. Art ran deep in the family: his brothers Charles Germain and Augustin de Saint-Aubin were also accomplished artists. Gabriel received his earliest training at home before entering the studios of Étienne Je...