Connoisseurs

Thomas Rowlandson|S. W. Fores

June 20, 1799 · Hand-colored etching · Drawings and Prints

Rowlandson here directs his visual wit against a group of elderly art enthusiasts who lean in appreciatively to examine a painting of Venus and Cupid. Their lecherous expressions, the voluptuous subject before them, and the biblical scene of Susanna and the elders on the wall behind all suggest that their devotion to art does not arise out of aesthetic appreciation alone. To create texture and shadow, the artist etched a network of fine lines, using touches of stipple to help define the forms. Rowlandson's publisher would have directed the watercolor additions.

Artist

Thomas Rowlandson|S. W. Fores

Date

June 20, 1799

Medium

Hand-colored etching

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959