Gabriel Huquier

Gabriel Huquier (born May 9, 1695 in Orléans ; † June 11, 1772 ) was a French draftsman , etcher , engraver , art dealer and graphic collector , who played an important role in the spread of the Rococo style .

Life

Huquier spent his childhood and youth in his hometown Orléans, before settling permanently in Paris around 1720 , not without maintaining contacts in Orléans throughout his life.

In Paris he worked on the one hand as a proficient ornament eraser and on the other hand as the designated owner of a flourishing art trade with numerous customers and, as a passionate art lover, also compiled a significant collection of original drawings and plates.

Huquier soon found access to the circle of artists, art lovers and critics who met weekly in the Parisian hôtel particulier (city palace) or the country house of the wealthy art collector and patron Pierre Crozat . This he served alongside Nicolas Vleughels (1668–1737) and Bernard Picart (1673–1733) as an agent for the purchase of larger collections.

As a recognized art expert, Huquier exerted great influence. With extraordinary generosity, he let art lovers and especially young artists benefit from his profound knowledge, advised them and made the collections of his cabinet of lovers accessible to them on certain days of the week in order to allow them to study and copy the works.

He died in 1772 at the age of 77.

His pastel portrait on a blue background, "Le graveur Gabriel Huquier" (1747), was created by Jean-Baptiste Perronneau , who also drew the "Portrait de Mademoiselle Huquier" (both in Paris in the Musée du Louvre), formerly known as "Petite fille au chat" was, and the portrait of Huqier's son Jacques-Gabriel Huquier (1730–1803 or 1805), who, like his father, took up the profession of etcher and engraver and was also active as a painter.

plant

Huquier's main interest was ornament drawings. He created numerous etchings after Claude Gillot (1673–1722), Antoine Watteau (1684–1721), Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686–1755), Jacques de Lajoue (1686–1761), Juste Aurèle Meissonnier (1695–1750), François Boucher (1703–1770) and other French masters. He also engraved architectural drawings by Gilles-Marie Oppenord (1672–1742), more than 2000 of which were in his personal possession.

Huquier Collection

Two large auctions with works from the collector's rich stock took place during his lifetime, namely in Amsterdam (1761) and Paris (1771), two more in 1772, after his death.

Web links

Footnotes

↑ Charles Antoine Jombert in his preface to the "Catalog raisonné de l'oeuvre de Sébastien Clerc, chevalier romain, dessinateur & graveur du roi du cabinet"

personal data
SURNAME	Huquier, Gabriel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	French artist, art dealer and collector
DATE OF BIRTH	May 9, 1695
PLACE OF BIRTH	Orleans
DATE OF DEATH	June 11, 1772

[1] Charles Antoine Jombert in his preface to the "Catalog raisonné de l'oeuvre de Sébastien Clerc, chevalier romain, dessinateur & graveur du roi du cabinet"