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Crouched Peasant Defecating and Urinating (from the Capricci di varie figure di Iacopo Callot--The Nancy set)
Crouched Peasant Defecating and Urinating (from the Capricci di varie figure di Iacopo Callot--The Nancy set)

Crouched Peasant Defecating and Urinating (from the Capricci di varie figure di Iacopo Callot--The Nancy set)

Artist Jacques Callot French, 1592 - 1635
Dateca. 1621
MediumEtching on laid paper
DimensionsSheet: 3 1/8 x 2 1/8 in. (7.9 x 5.3 cm)
ClassificationsPrints
Credit LineGift in memory of Leon H. and Marie Buttlar Sparling by their family
Object number2008.20.17
On View
Not on view
Collections
  • Works on Paper
Inscribed"30" in the LR corner, appears to be etched in the plate. Per notes from Armin Kunz appraisal, 9/22/08 this numbering was done on the second and final state of the second or "Nancy" edition of the Capricci di varie Verso: "M 831 II" in pencil On the mat: Old typed label cut out from old mat (probably from Gimbel's mat) and mounted inside new one, "JACQUES CALLOT/(one of best 17th century/French artists)/ original copper engraving". Written in pencil LR of new mat "Jacques Callot, 1592-1635/ Peasant Squatting and Defacating (L. 459) from/Capricci di Varie Figure/ (1621-22)"
DescriptionIn the left foreground a male figure, crouched at the side of a road, relieving himself. Wearing a floppy brimmed, fairly high-crowned hat he has his back to a tree as he squats with his right arm wrapped around his folded knees holding his shirttails away from his buttocks while his left hand directs the stream as he urinates. In the center background an animal, probably a donkey, grazes between a small fence to the right and a rocky landscape feature at the left.

The figure and tree are etched more deeply to create strong contrasts within these elements as well as in comparison with the background. The background elements are drawn and printed much more lightly and evenly.

See also 1984.4,.5Exhibition History"Old Master Prints from the Sparling Family Collection", Hoopes Gallery, The Hyde Collection, February 28 - May 24, 2009.ProvenanceBefore 1938, New York, NY, William Randolph Hearst (according to Richard Helbig)
By 1941, New York, NY, Gimbels Department Store (according to Richard Helbig)
New York, NY, Richard Helbig
2006, Houston, TX, Tobin Sparling
2008, Glens Falls, NY, The Hyde Collection Trust