Philippe-jacques De Loutherbourg (1740-1812) - Smoker

Philippe-Jacques DE LOUTHERBOURG (Strasbourg 1740 - Chiswick 1812)
Hunter smoking a pipe
Black stone and stump
9 x 8.2 cm out of frame
Signed lower left
In a restoration period frame and old glass

Preparatory for : 
- Seated Man Smoking a Pipe, First Plate of the Second Suite of Figures Drawn and Engraved by P.J. Loutherbourg, Painter to the King (1767 - 1771), Yale Center for British Art, INV. B1977.14.11424

Jacques-Philippe de Loutherbourg was a cosmopolitan artist of the second half of the 18th century who lived and worked in both France and England. Today he is best known for his panoramic compositions depicting landscapes, naval battles and other military subjects. 


The present drawing dates from the height of Loutherbourg's career in Paris, between 1767 and 1771, when he was Painter to the King. It is a preparatory drawing for the frontispiece of a series entitled Seconde suite de figures dessinées et gravées par P.J. Loutherbourg peintre du roi. This type of publication was very frequent and popular in the 18th century, enabling artists to demonstrate to the public their inventiveness, their influences and, above all, their perfect mastery of figure representation.

It is amusing to note that in this series, a direct homage to Salvator Rosa in terms of subject matter and choice of format, Loutherbourg mischievously chose as his frontispiece a figure with little heroism, more reminiscent of Northern European art. The broad smile of this smoker, resting after hunting, invites the viewer to come and enjoy the figures concocted by the master. 

The small format of the drawing underlines its spirit of precious curiosity in the purest Dutch taste, on the blurred borderline between caricature and illustration, finely worked with succinct, nervous brushstrokes modelling the figure by contrasts. The engraving was probably made from this drawing using a mirror or a counter-proof to preserve the original direction. 

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