Artwork Page for The First Guard

Details / Information for The First Guard

The First Guard

c. 1754

Gabriel Huquier

(French, 1695–1772)

after François Boucher

(French, 1703–1770)
Culture
France, 18th century
Medium
etching
Measurements
Image: 32.4 x 20.8 cm (12 3/4 x 8 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
In honor of Leona E. Prasse 1964.26
Catalogue raisonné
Le Blanc II.403.67
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Many of François Boucher's decorative designs were published as prints sometimes executed by the painter, etcher, and publisher-dealer Gabriel Huquier. Thus, both these artists played significant roles in the development and spread of the elaborate Rococo style. The First Guard-depicting a rustic band of young and old men who have temporarily shed their weapons to concentrate on a game of dice-typifies the sort of picturesque genre scene at which Boucher excelled. The artist displays his ingenuity by composing a pleasing arrangement of artfully posed figures and carefully placed objects.
A vertically oriented etching in black ink depicts five men gathered in a wooded clearing around a tasselled drum topped with dice. On our left, a soldier in a helmet stands behind the group. A bearded man on our right, wrapped in a textured cloak, watches a man in the center point toward the dice. Swords and a basket rest on the ground near dense foliage and a stone wall.

The First Guard

c. 1754

Gabriel Huquier, François Boucher

(French, 1695–1772), (French, 1703–1770)
France, 18th century

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