Vincenz Georg Kininger, "here He Comes!"

VINCENZ GEORG KININGER
VOILÀ QU’IL PASSE !

VINCENZ GEORG KININGER
Regensburg 1767 – 1851 Vienna

Engraving printed in brown ink, stipple and roulette, after a drawing by Kininger, engraved by Weiss. Signed "Voilà qu’il passe!", "A Vienne aux Bureau des Arts et de l’Industrie, 1803", "Dessinée par Kininger", "Gravé par Weiss."
33 x 27 cm / 13 x 10.6 in, with margins 38 x 31 cm / 15 x 12.2 in

PROVENANCE
Private collection, Vienna

In the closing decades of the 18th century, a wave of Anglomania swept across continental Europe, shaped by the cultural allure and political weight of Great Britain in the anti-Napoleonic coalition. In Vienna, this translated into a taste for refined and sentimental imagery, echoing the aesthetic of Angelica Kauffman and Maria Cosway—two pioneering women artists whose works embodied the values of sensibility, domestic virtue, and delicate femininity.

This engraving, printed in warm brown ink using the stipple and roulette techniques, reflects the emergence of a softer, more painterly approach to printmaking that flourished around 1800. The intimacy of the oval composition, the graceful pose of the young girl, and the gentle anecdotal tone place this image squarely within that visual tradition.

The drawing is by Vincenz Georg Kininger, a Viennese artist known for his elegant genre scenes, portraits, and book illustrations. Active as an engraver, miniaturist, and teacher, Kininger captured the sentimental mood of his age with grace and precision. The plate was engraved by Weiss and published in Vienna by the Bureau des Arts et de l’Industrie in 1803.

The title, Voilà qu’il passe ! (“There he goes!”), adds a gentle narrative touch to the scene, suggesting a fleeting romantic moment or a sentimental farewell. The print is signed “Dessiné par Kininger” and “Gravé par Weiss,” indicating Kininger as the draughtsman and Weiss as the engraver. It was published in Vienna in 1803 by the Bureau des Arts et de l’Industrie, one of the city’s most active and refined print publishers of the Empire period, as stated in the imprint below the image.