Grosvenor Prints

Windsor conceived as a stage design, the artistic education of a young aristocrat, and reflections on the Thames Embankment in a selection of prints connected with painter and printmaker Paul Sandby (c.1731-1809). Sandby started out working for the Board of Ordnance as a draughtsman, honing the skills he would subsequently exploit in his prints and watercolours, but aside from his skills as a landscape artist he was also a talented caricaturist. He produced a set of biting satires against Hogarth and also a set of London Cries which avoid the generic sentiment so often found in such subjects. The following two prints also show Sandby's skill as a caricaturist: The Well Fed English Constable. P.Sandby Invt. MDarly sc. Pubd. according to Act of Parlt. Octr. 1st: 1771 by MDarly Engraver No.39 Strand. Etching, 350 x 250mm. 13¾ x 9¾". Some offsetting. A watchman in profile patting his enormous belly, holding his staff, two dogs slavering at a dead fowl in h...

Two recent encounters with Jean-Honoré Fragonard's The Swing (London, Wallace Collection ) in the past few days. The first in Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby : and the second when cited as an inspiration for English Touring Opera's recent production of Così fan tutte : Both serving as reminders that we currently have an impression of the engraving which Nicolas de Launay made from the painting in the 18th century: Les Hazards Heureux de l'Escarpolette [The Swing] N. de Launay after H. Fragonard [first published c.1780, this impression late 19th century] Engraving partly printed in colour, outside of frame 76 x 60cm. £220