Live Auction 3054The I.Q. van Regteren Altena Collection Part IV
Bernard Picart (Paris 1673-1733 Amsterdam)
Lot 2

Bernard Picart (Paris 1673-1733 Amsterdam)

Design for an engraving: Night scene with the wigmaker, Brontin and Boirude, the sacristan, surprised by a night owl flying out of a lectern, from Le Lutrin

Closed13 May 2015

Price Realised

EUR 4,375

Considering selling a similar item?

Discover its value with a complimentary estimate from our specialists.

More Information

How to sell

Bernard Picart (Paris 1673-1733 Amsterdam)
Design for an engraving: Night scene with the wigmaker, Brontin and Boirude, the sacristan, surprised by a night owl flying out of a lectern, from Le Lutrin
signed 'B: Picart fecit'
pen and black ink, grey wash, heightened with white, indented for transfer, the verso blackened, the border on a separate sheet of paper attached to the drawing
29.4 x 20.3 cm. (the inner sheet 20.5 x 14.8 cm.)

possibly Curt Otto (circa 1880-1929); C.G. Boerner, Leipzig, 7 November 1929, part of lot 167 ('ca. 35 Bl. Handzeichnungen meist älterer Meister [...] Picart [...]'); where purchased by I.Q. van Regteren Altena for 1 guilder (Inventory book: '804. t. B. Picart illustratie').

Specialist note

From 1717-18 Picart contributed illustrations to Nicolas Boileau's Oeuvres published in Amsterdam. The present drawing, illustrates Canto III of Le Lutrin, a mock-heroic poem written by Boileau between 1674-83.

Fig. 1. Bernard Picart, Night scene with the wigmaker, Brontin, and Boirude the sacristan, surprised by a night owl flying out of a lectern, from Le Lutrin, engraving, edition from 1722, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.