Le Mire, Louis Lot n° 42

LE MIRE, Louis Design drawing for the singerie print "La parade". Ca. 1739-1757 Drawing, black and grey ink, grey wash, heightened with white, 19,1 x 23,6 cm (visible), laid paper, unsigned (few sm. losses, sl. browned). Gilt paper strips on edges, laid down on paper. The draughtsman and printmaker Louis Le Mire (ca. 1727-1757) died young and left behind a limited oeuvre. He is mainly known for his illustrations for an edition of Jean de la Fontaine's "Fables", but he also produced a pair of prints of monkeys titled "La guinguette" and "La parade" (see Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. RP-P-OB-69.229 and 230). The prints are signed "L. A. le Mire inv sculp" and have the Paris address of the widow of F. Chereau. Our drawing is in reverse and has similar dimensions as the related etching (22,4 x 25,4 cm including lower margin). It displays small differences such as the dress of the monkey on the rope at centre, the instrument of the monkey at bottom left, and the pose of the monkey on the pig at bottom right. The outlines of the monkey at bottom centre have been adjusted with fine lines, and it is this adjusted pose that was etched into print. We are grateful to Dr. Bert Schepers (Centrum Rubenianum) for pointing out the related etchings. Ref. IFF 18e XIV, p. 88, 2-3. - FMH 3700. - B. Marret, Portraits de l'artiste en singe. Les Singeries dans la peinture, Paris 2001, pp. 50-53.