The Fishermen
18th century
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet (trimmed): 5 in. × 6 5/16 in. (12.7 × 16.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1953
Accession Number
53.600.4356
Art Historical Context
"The Fishermen" is a delicate 18th-century etching that captures a quiet moment of labor by the water. Created during a period when printmaking flourished across Europe, the work reflects the era’s growing interest in everyday scenes and the natural world. The modest scale—roughly the size of a postcard—suggests it was designed for intimate viewing, perhaps as part of a series or for inclusion in a collector’s album. Etching allowed artists to achieve fine, expressive lines that convey both the texture of waves and the subtle gestures of the figures. As an accessible medium, prints like this ...
About the Artist
Chereau|Quentin Pierre Chedel (French|French) · 1736 | –1782 |
French 1736–1782|French