Gabriel-Jacques de Saint-Aubin, 'A Street Show in Paris', 1760
About the work
Overview
Framed beneath an arch of tall trees, a small crowd watches two characters from commedia dell’arte (a popular form of comic theatre) engaged in a mock duel. The show is watched by a mix of male and female characters from various social classes, ranging from young children to the elderly. This is very likely a street performance in the boulevard du Temple, which by the 1760s had become a lively area filled with cafés, inns, shops, street performers and permanent theatrical venues.
Saint-Aubin worked primarily as a graphic artist, earning his living from making etchings and engravings and illustrating books. He portrayed everyday life in Paris, including aspects of it overlooked by more established artists. His humorous sketches of the Parisian scene often showed recognisable locations. Saint-Aubin had ambitions to be a painter, and this rare painting from 1760 is typical of his choice of subject and lively treatment.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- A Street Show in Paris
- Artist dates
- 1724 - 1780
- Date made
- 1760
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 80 × 64.1 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1907
- Inventory number
- NG2129
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Humphrey Wine, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Eighteenth Century French Paintings’, London 2018; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
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1859E. de Goncourt and J. de Goncourt, Les Saint-Aubin, étude concernant quatre portraits inédits graves a l'eau-forte, Paris 1859
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1880E. de Goncourt and J. de Goncourt, L'art du dix-huitième siècle, 3rd edn, Paris 1880
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1881E. de Goncourt and J. de Goncourt, La maison d'un artiste, Paris 1881
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1884M. Crouchandeu, Catalogue raisonné des objets d'art et d'archéologie du musée de Perpignan, Perpignan 1884
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1894A. Moureau, Les Saint-Aubin, Paris 1894
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1907M.W. Brockwell, The National Gallery: Lewis Bequest, London 1907
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1908C.J. Holmes, 'The "Parade" by G. de Saint-Aubin', The Burlington Magazine, XIII/63, 1908, pp. 151-3
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1909M.W. Brockwell, The National Gallery: Lewis Bequest, London 1909
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1912É. Dacier, 'Gabriel de Saint-Aubin peintre', Revue de l'art ancien et moderne, XXXI, 1912, pp. 5-18, 117-32
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1914É. Dacier, L'oeuvre gravé de Gabriel de Saint-Aubin: Notice historique et catalogue raisonné, Paris 1914
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1925G. Lebel, 'Un tableau de Gabriel de Saint-Aubin au musée de Perpignan', Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire de l'Art Français, 1925, pp. 113-4
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1925E. Dacier and E. Girod de l'Ain, Exposition des Saint-Aubin: Catalogue raisonné, (exh. cat. Hôtel de M. Jean Charpentier, 7 - 29 April 1925), Paris 1925
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1926G. Lebel, 'Un tableau de Gabriel de Saint-Aubin au Musée de Perpignan', Revue de l'art ancien et moderne, I, 1926, pp. 48-54
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1929É. Dacier, Gabriel de Saint-Aubin, peintre, dessinateur et graveur, 1724-1780, 2 vols, Paris 1929
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1931M. Roux, Inventaire du fonds français, graveurs du XVIIIe siècle, Paris 1931
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1946Martin Davies, National Gallery Catalogues: French School, London 1946
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1950J. Mathey, 'Three Paintings by Gabriel de Saint-Aubin', The Burlington Magazine, XCII/565, 1950, pp. 107-8
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1957Martin Davies, National Gallery Catalogues: French School, 2nd edn (revised), London 1957
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1960J. Cailleux, 'An Unpublished Painting by Gabriel de Saint-Aubin: Le Bal champêtre', The Burlington Magazine, CII/686, 1960, pp. i-iv
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1964A. Ananoff, 'Oeuvres inédites de Gabriel de Saint-Aubin', Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire de l'Art Français, 1964, pp. 115-7
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1968D. Sutton, France in the Eighteenth Century (exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts, 6 January - 3 March 1968), London 1968
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1974J.W. Niemeijer, Franse tekenkunst van de 18de eeuw uit nederlandse verzamelingen, Amsterdam 1974
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1975P. Rosenberg, The Age of Louis XV: French Paintings 1710-1774 (exh. cat. Toledo, 26 October 26 - 7 December 1975; Art Institute of Chicago, 10 January - 22 February 1976; National Gallery of Canada, 21 March 21 - 2 May 1976), Ohio 1975
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1985M. Wilson, French Paintings before 1800, London 1985
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1991E. Launay, Les frères Goncourt, collectionneurs de dessins, Paris 1991
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1992M. Levey, Painting and Sculpture in France 1700-1789, New Haven 1992
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1992S.F. McCullagh, 'Eighteenth-Century French Cabinet Drawings', in Drawing: Masters and Methods: Raphael to Redon, London 1992, pp. 89-102
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1995S.L. Siegfried, The Art of Louis-Léopold Boilly: Modern Life in Napoleonic France, New Haven 1995
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1996S.F. McCullagh, 'Gabriel de Saint-Aubin's Debt to Antoine Watteau and François Boucher', in H. Bauereisen and M. Stuffmann (eds), Correspondances: Festchrift fur Margret Stuffmann zum 24. November 1996, Mainz 1996, pp. 125-34
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1998K. de Beaumont, Reconsidering Gabriel de Saint-Aubin (1724-1780): The Background for His Scenes of Paris, Phd Thesis, New York University 1998
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2001F. Viatte, 'Un don des Amis du Louvre. "Le Livre des Saint-Aubin" au Département des Arts Graphiques', Revue du Louvre, 3, 2001, pp. 19-22
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2001Musée Paul-Dupuy, Les collectionneurs toulousains du XVIIIe siècle: L'Académie royale de peinture et architecture (exh. cat. Musée Paul-Dupuy, 17 January - 30 April 2001), Toulouse 2001
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2002P. Rosenberg, Le livre des Saint-Aubin, Paris 2002
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2003C.B. Bailey and P. Conisbee, The Age of Watteau, Chardin and Fragonard: Masterpieces of French Genre Painting (exh. cat. National Gallery of Canada, 6 June - 7 September 2003; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 12 October 2003 - 11 January 2004; Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie, 8 February - 9 May 2004), New Haven 2003
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2007C.B. Bailey et al., Gabriel de Saint-Aubin 1724-1780 (exh. cat. Frick Collection, 30 October 2007 - 27 January 2008; Musée du Louvre, 28 February - may 26, 2008), Paris 2007
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2018Wine, Humphrey, National Gallery Catalogues: The Eighteenth Century French Paintings, London 2018
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.