Dimensions 3 5/8 x 1 5/16 in. (9.2 x 3.4 cm) (image)4 1/8 x 1 7/8 in. (10.5 x 4.8 cm) (sheet)
Jean-Pierre Norblin de la Gourdaine created this etching, Rat Poison Seller. The composition is dominated by a figure rendered with a network of delicate lines. The visual elements of the piece, such as line and texture, create a sense of depth and volume. Norblin's formal approach involves a semiotic exchange between the vendor's tools and attire, turning them into signs of his profession and social standing. The lines and shapes, the placement and orientation of the figure in the frame, all operate within a system of signs. Here, the figure is shown with a pole over his shoulder that has dead rats hanging from it and he is holding a box. Are these visual cues meant to simply inform or to repel? The artist's mark-making and the etched line itself takes on a life of its own, challenging traditional modes of representation. This allows us to think critically about the function of art.
Comments
Jean-Pierre Norblin de la Gourdaine was a French painter and printmaker active in Poland in the late 18th century. Norblin's charming miniature etchings, representing mostly male heads, street sellers, and vagabonds, reflect both in subject and technique the profound influence of Rembrandt's prints. Norblin was also drawn to Polish subjects, capturing the unfamiliar, exotic world around him in his depictions of men with colossal fur hats and curled moustaches, Cossacks, and Polish historical figures.
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