Lot 337: *Jean-Louis Desprez (1743-1804) a funerary torchere of skeletons and bats. Pen and black ink over

*Jean-Louis Desprez (1743-1804) a funerary torchere of skeletons and bats. Pen and black ink over black chalk, the top of the torchere revised on a small piece of paper, pasted over the original design. 357 by 229mm. Desprez, a painter, stage designer and architect, was equally well-known for his drawings for Saint-Non's Voyage pittoresque as for his macabre inventions, designs for the theatre, and his prints. The even, uninflected line of his vedute is quite different from the graphic quality of the present drawing. Here Desprez uses fine lines and dense hatching, a variety of strokes of different lengths and weight to conjure up this fantastic subject. Both in treatment and subject, it can be related to his most famous etching, La Chimere de Monsieur Desprez. For t

*Jean-Louis Desprez (1743-1804)
a funerary torchere of skeletons and bats.
Pen and black ink over black chalk, the top of the torchere revised on a small piece of paper, pasted over the original design.
357 by 229mm.
Desprez, a painter, stage designer and architect, was equally well-known for his drawings for Saint-Non's Voyage pittoresque as for his macabre inventions, designs for the theatre, and his prints. The even, uninflected line of his vedute is quite different from the graphic quality of the present drawing. Here Desprez uses fine lines and dense hatching, a variety of strokes of different lengths and weight to conjure up this fantastic subject. Both in treatment and subject, it can be related to his most famous etching, La Chimere de Monsieur Desprez. For this and other works of a macabre nature by Desprez see La Chimere de Monsieur Desprez, exh. cat., Paris, Musee du Louvre, 1994. These works seem mostly to have been executed while he was in Sweden working for King Gustav III, from 1784 until his death.
It is interesting to see how Desprez revised his design after it was quite well-advanced. The original top of the torchere was slightly wider and surmounted by a larger bowl decorated with what appear to be birds' heads. He then covered this over with a small sheet of paper and drew the new, reduced design.
*Jean-Louis Desprez (1743-1804)
a funerary torchere of skeletons and bats.
Pen and black ink over black chalk, the top of the torchere revised on a small piece of paper, pasted over the original design.
357 by 229mm.
Desprez, a painter, stage designer and architect, was equally well-known for his drawings for Saint-Non's Voyage pittoresque as for his macabre inventions, designs for the theatre, and his prints. The even, uninflected line of his vedute is quite different from the graphic quality of the present drawing. Here Desprez uses fine lines and dense hatching, a variety of strokes of different lengths and weight to conjure up this fantastic subject. Both in treatment and subject, it can be related to his most famous etching, La Chimere de Monsieur Desprez. For this and other works of a macabre nature by Desprez see La Chimere de Monsieur Desprez, exh. cat., Paris, Musee du Louvre, 1994. These works seem mostly to have been executed while he was in Sweden working for King Gustav III, from 1784 until his death.
It is interesting to see how Desprez revised his design after it was quite well-advanced. The original top of the torchere was slightly wider and surmounted by a larger bowl decorated with what appear to be birds' heads. He then covered this over with a small sheet of paper and drew the new, reduced design.