The Painter Jacques-Luc Barbier-Walbonne

Curatorial Overview

“Aubertin masterfully combined aquatint and tooled stipple—two techniques used to create granular tone—to emulate the meticulous shading and velvety surface of Isabey’s original drawing. A close look at the print, especially in the areas of the shirt, the jacket, and its lapels, reveals the diverse variety of textures Aubertin achieved. When displayed in the 1804 salon, the print was titled The Little Smoker. This impression is printed on handmade “wove” paper, a modern, smoother kind of paper developed in England during the mid to late 1700s.”