Jean-Baptiste Huet I (Paris 1745-1811)

Jean-Baptiste Huet was born into a family of artists; his father was Nicolas Huet, his uncle Christophe Huet. Huet was known not only as a painter but also as a reputable printer. After initially studying under Charles Dagomer, the animal painter, his friendship with Charles Dermarteau (who would later engrave many of Huet's pictures), led him to enter the studio of Jean-Baptiste Leprince. Huet's work in the petit maniére of genre painting, of which this is a fine example, was strongly influenced by his friend François Boucher, the forerunner of this style. Huet was approved by the Académie Royale in 1768 and exhibited regularly at the Salon until 1789.