Voltaire debout, dans un paysage

Details

JEAN HUBER (1721-1786)
Voltaire debout, dans un paysage
etching, 1778, on laid paper, without watermark, a good impression of this very rare print, the text below printed from a separate plate, horizontal printer’s creases above, probably the full sheet, with deckle edges at right and below, in very good condition; with Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), Le Promeneur vu de profil, from: Figures de Modes, etching, 1710, a very good impression of the third state (of five), with wide margins, probably the full sheet, a short tear below, some minor foxing, otherwise in good condition
Plate 210 x 163 mm., Sheet 254 x 210 mm.
Plate 127 x 79 mm., Sheet 229 x 152 mm.
(2)

Provenance

Jürg Stocker (not in Lugt), his stamp recto. (Watteau)

Literature

Portalis & Beraldi p. 436-7, note 1. (Huber)
Dacier & Vuaflart 52 (Watteau)

Special Notice

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Lot Essay

The Swiss painter Jean Huber (1721-1786) was a close associate of Voltaire who, having being exiled from Versailles, settled in the town of Ferney on the Swiss border in 1760. Over a period of twenty years, Huber painted, drew and etched Voltaire again and again, not always to the philosopher's joy, who complained that Huber had made him ridiculous in all of Europe. In the present etching he depicts his friend, clearly frail and a bit uncertain on his legs, at the age of 83, only half a year before his death.

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