Le Chansonnier - Chataigner / Bovinet 1877

📜 Description
Original etching executed in 1877 by Chataigner and Bovinet after a painting by Adriaen van Ostade, published in Paris by Félix Hermet for the series “Musée du Louvre (...)”. The composition depicts an itinerant singer entertaining a group of villagers gathered outside a rural house, within a Northern European setting animated by rustic architecture, domestic animals, and scenes of everyday life. The narrative structure revolves around the musician and his audience, developing a convivial atmosphere characteristic of 17th-century Dutch genre painting, with careful attention to gestures, facial expressions, and interactions among the figures. Inscriptions beneath the image identify the work as belonging to the “École Hollandaise” and document the relationship between Van Ostade’s original composition, the draughtsman Swebac, and the engravers Chataigner and Bovinet. This antique print retains documentary and collectible value for the quality of its etched interpretation and for its role in the 19th-century dissemination of masterpieces preserved in the Louvre Museum.

📚 Historical-Artistic Note
Adriaen van Ostade was among the leading interpreters of 17th-century Dutch genre painting, celebrated for his depictions of rural and popular life. During the 19th century, many of his paintings were reproduced through engraved editions intended for artistic education and museum dissemination. In this edition, the preparatory drawing was entrusted to Swebac, while Chataigner and Bovinet translated the composition into etching for the Parisian publisher Félix Hermet, known for issuing prints dedicated to the collections of the Louvre Museum.

🧾 Technical Sheet
Type: original etching
Author / Maker: Adriaen van Ostade
Designer / Engraver: Swebac; Chataigner and Bovinet
Publisher / Printer: Félix Hermet, Paris
Place: Paris
Period: 1877
Material: paper
Technique: etching
Subject / Title: “Le Chansonnier”
Edition / Print Run: from “Musée du Louvre (...)”
Dimensions: sheet 46 x 61.5 cm; image 32 x 44.5 cm
Marks / Signatures / Inscriptions: title “Le Chansonnier”; inscription “École Hollandaise”; publisher’s and engravers’ credits printed below the image

🔍 Condition Report
Excellent overall condition with well-preserved impression and wide margins. Paper in good condition with minor age-related traces consistent with the period. Blank verso.