Charles Emile Jacque’s, “Joueur de guitar” (Guitar Player), 1845

Charles Émile Jacque (aka Charles Jacque; Charles-Emile Jacque) (1813–1894)

“Joueur de guitar” (Guitar Player) (aka “Musician”), 1845

Etching on tan chine collé with small margins around the image borderline and laid upon a conservator’s support sheet cradled within a presentation sheet of archival card.

Size: (archival support sheet) 23.9 x 26.2 cm; (tan China paper) 8.3 x 12.6 cm; (image borderline) 7.5 x 11.6 cm

Signed in the plate at upper left: "Ch. Jacque"

Numbered below the image borderline at right (but barely discernible): “23”

Guiffrey 1866 64 (undescribed state)

See the technical description of this print at the following museums:

The British Museum

(http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3362705&partId=1&searchText=charles+Jacque+guitar&people=119978&page=1); The Art Institute of Chicago

(http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/45607);

The Brooklyn Museum of Art

(https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/94315)

Condition: richly inked, crisp and well-printed impression with small margins around the image borderline. The sheet is in excellent condition (i.e. there are no tears, abrasions, holes, folds, stains or foxing) and has been laid upon two support sheets of fine washi paper and cradled innovatively within a thick archival card. This print is in an extraordinary state of preservation.

I am selling this beautifully composed arrangement of a seated young musician playing a guitar while reading sheet music for AU$143 (currently US$109.81/EUR94.43/GBP82.79 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this small etching where the mellow colour of the tan paper complements the intimacy of the scene portrayed, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

Hopefully I am not alone in seeing rhythms in Jacque’s richly layered use of line shown here as being the graphic equivalent of soft musical sounds.

For those who may not share my vision, note how the background marks describing the shadowy regions are arranged in patterns that flow around the young guitarist. These patterns are not arbitrary but interact with—perhaps “explain” is a more appropriate regarding their function—the portrayed activity of the guitarist.

In the background in front of the guitarist’s head, for instance, Jacque has used short, staccato-like strokes that express tension in the air. By contrast, in the space behind the guitarist’s head, the strokes change and become fused in swirling rhythms connoting flow and harmonic ease.