Study of Five Male Portraits is a beautiful black and white etching with drypoint interventions on paper, realized at the end of the XVIII century by the French artist Jean-Jacques de Boissieu (Lyon, 1736 - 1810).

Hand-signed on plate on the lower left margin "De Boissieu f.".

This old master’s original print, with fresh impressions, rapid lines, and wide gradients of blacks, is in very good conditions, except for a usual yellowing of the paper on the edges, some signs of the passing of time, and a light foxing along the margins. The original beauty of this print was not affected by these small defects.

Five studies of heads, three of which are male profiles. The two portraits at the top are slightly turned towards left. Each portrait represents an elderly man, toothless and with a big nose, that demonstrates the superb draftsmanship of the artist and the incredible realism of the print. Even though the subjects are drawn in different dimensions and degrees of finish, each portrait can be considered a unique art piece.

Jean-Jacques de Boissieu (Lyon, 1736 -1810) was a French artist who studied at the École de Dessin in Lyon, but he was mostly self-taught. His earliest prints were realized between 1758 and 1764. When he went to Italy in the retinue of the ambassador and Duc de la Rochefoucauld d’Enville, he had a lifechanging encounter: he met Voltaire and entered the world of luminaries, and had the opportunity of realizing some plates for Diderot-d’Alembert’s Encyclopèdie. He then continued to produce prints in Lyon: many etchings of the Roman and Dutch countryside, as well as the French countryside around Lyon, earning a reputation as the last representative exponent of the older etching tradition.
28.2 x 22.7 (foglio), 20.3 x 17.5 (image)