Jean-Jacques de Boissieu (1736-1810) Jean-Jacques de Boissieu, portrait de l'auteur. 1796. Eau-forte, pointe sèche et roulette. 227 x 285 [282 x 365 mm]. Boissieu-Perez 102 ; V. Carlson et al., Regency to Empire, French Printmaking 1715-1814, The Baltimore Museum of Arts and The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1984, n° 112. Superbe épreuve sur vergé mince, du 4e état (sur 8), avant remplacement du portrait de la femme de l'artiste par un paysage. Infime empoussiérage et quelques points de rouille. Bonnes marges (légèrement réduites). Au verso, paraphe des marchands Weber et van der Kolk (Lugt 2552) au crayon ; paraphe de Martinet et annotation de sa main en bas à droite à la plume et à l'encre sépia ; autre paraphe non identifié au crayon rouge ; timbre de la coll. J. Michelin (Lugt 1490). Timbre AABM (Lugt 3075). " The various states of Portrait de l'Auteur document an intriguing artistic change rather than additions for mere refinement. The first state is pure etching [...] In the second and third states, the artist gradually added drypoint and roulette shading. In his self-portrait, de Boissieu holds a copperplate on which a portrait of his wife is drawn. While he was working on this print, his wife died, and in the fifth state, he substituted a landscape with a cow for her portrait. [...] In addition to the intimate glimpse of his wife, de Boissieu portrays himself with objects relating to his profession and education, including a pen, a book, a bust from a figure in the Laocoön, and such engraving tools as an etching needle and a scraper. This image is deservedly regarded as one of the artist's finest prints..." (J. McKean Fisher, in V. I. Carlson and J. W. Ittmann éd., Regency to Empire, French Printmaking 1715-1814, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1984, p. 310).