Germain-Augustin and Rose de Saint-Aubin, Drawn by Their Uncle 1766

Editor: Here we have Gabriel de Saint-Aubin’s “Germain-Augustin and Rose de Saint-Aubin, Drawn by Their Uncle,” a pencil drawing and etching from 1766. It feels quite intimate, a glimpse into a familial relationship. How do you see this work? Curator: Intimacy, yes, but consider also the material conditions. The Rococo style, visible in the clothing and delicate lines, speaks to a specific social class with access to leisure and elaborate fabrics. Etching itself became popular for wider consumption of imagery, spreading taste and ideas. How does the choice of inexpensive materials—pencil and etching—affect your understanding of its purpose, given that it depicts clearly wealthy individuals? Editor: I hadn't thought about the materials in contrast to their status! So, the medium sort of democratizes the image, makes it more accessible than, say, a painted portrait. Is it commenting on anything by making that choice? Curator: Potentially. The relative ease and lower cost of production through etching enabled Saint-Aubin to circulate this image more broadly, challenging traditional notions of portraiture reserved for the elite. The line work itself conveys the rapid creation of a sketch. This emphasis on the process of its making points to evolving understandings of artistic labor. What, for you, does it suggest about the changing relationship between art and its audience during this period? Editor: It hints at a loosening of the rules, a breakdown of older boundaries between the artist and the consumer, high and low art... that's really interesting. Curator: Precisely! Recognizing those shifting dynamics can broaden our perspectives and reveal the ways in which the meaning of even a simple family portrait is inextricably linked to its material creation. Editor: That makes me see the piece, and that whole era, in a brand new light. Thanks!