Les Musiciens (The Singers)

In 1849 Charles-Emile Jacque (1813-94) fled Paris to escape from the cholera epidemic to the rural retreat of Barbizon in the company of his friend Jean-Francois Millet. The rest is art history. Although not so well known today, he was a central figure in the important ‘early modern’ Barbizon School of landscape painters for several decades. He was, moreover, a central figure in French 19th century printmaking and particularly etching. He ranks with Bracquemond, Buhot and Meryon as a central figure here. His Grove Art Online entry states that ‘more significant are his etchings; this medium was beginning to undergo a revival in popularity at the time… to a large extent through Jacque’s efforts. Working in etching and drypoint, he produced numerous small prints of rustic life, beggars, farm animals, cottages and landscapes.’ He was a major figure in the Rembrandt revival, and stylistically his handling of etching owes a lot to his predecessor. An important admirer was Charles Baudelaire: 'M. Jacques’s new reputation will continue to grow always, we hope. His etchings are very bold and his subject matter is well conceived. All that M. Jacque does on copper is filled with a freedom and a frankness which reminds one of the Old Masters’. The prints of Adriaen van Ostade, a central figure in 17th century Dutch rural genre painting, were a big influence (Jacque produced a series based on Ostade’s works). Although he looks back, he is also of his time – ‘you’ve got to belong to your times’ wrote his contemporary, Daumier.

Two musicians in a rural setting, probably a country inn, are performing in the evening/night. The guitarist confronts the viewer and his companion sings from the score.  There is a large beer glass on table beside them: Jacque has seized the transient moment! These are two full-blooded countrymen, and you feel sure their music is too.

This stark, striking, unidealised etchingremarkably anticipates Gustave Courbet’s far more famous painting <em>After Dinner at </em>Ornans (1849). The timing suggests that Courbet would have almost certainly seen it when it came out in the luxury folio periodical <em>L’Artiste</em>, as is clear from this impression. No art historian has apparently made the connection till now.

The fact this etching was commercially published doesn't make it less of a work of art. Such publishing was the life blood of much 19th century French printmaking and without it we would have been deprived of some very great prints. It is a somewhat unusual theme for Jacque, as the large majority of works by him are of sheep (and sometimes shepherds) in Barbizon meadows, whereas this scene is clearly taking place in a local hostelry. According to print dealer James Goodfriend, the chine-appliqué paper is ‘slightly yellowish in tone, which gives wonderful warmth to the image’.

Wikipedia, 'Charles Jacque', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Jacque

Dr Mark Stocker   Curator, Historical International Art   May 2018