LOUIS JEAN DESPREZ (1743-1804)

La Chimère de Monsieur Desprez

Details

LOUIS JEAN DESPREZ (1743-1804)
La Chimère de Monsieur Desprez
etching, before 1771, on laid paper, with an Auvergne watermark, a very good impression of the very rare third state (of five), with the inscription Avec Privilege du Roy, with wide margins, probably the full sheet, with some repaired tears and small repaired paper losses at the sheet edges, some pale stains in the margins, otherwise in very good condition
Plate 322 x 378 mm., Sheet 430 x 528 mm.

Literature

Baudicour 6; Wollin 22.
V. Carlson & J. Ittmann, Regency to Empire - French Printmaking 1715-1814, The Baltimore Museum of Fine Art & Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1984, no. 80 (an impression of an intermediate state illustrated).
P. Stein, Artists and Amateurs: Etching in 18th-century France, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2013, no. 52 (a second/third state impression illustrated).

Lot Essay

Desprez's macabre depiction of this mythical beast is the most important, creative and technically accomplished of his prints. This fantastical three-headed monster, of Desprez's own imagining, was said to have been born in the burning sands of Africa and lived in the ruined palace of Masinissa, King of the Numidians. The beast feasted on passing animals and unwary travellers, keeping them in a compartment under its belly. As can be seen in the image, each of the three monstrous heads took their turn in feasting on the corpse, while one head tore at the flesh, the other two would support the prey in position.

An impression of this rare, early state with the inscription 'Avec Privilege du Roy' has not appeared at auction in almost twenty years.

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