Collection Online as of February 1, 2023
The Curious One
Antoine Pierre Mongin
(French, 1761–1827)
Oil on paper mounted to canvas
Unframed: 43.5 x 34.6 cm (17 1/8 x 13 5/8 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin 1977.116
Location
not on view
Description
Here a young man uses a ladder to climb over a garden wall. The sign at his right translates into "School for Young Ladies under the Direction of Mrs. Wachsam"—wachsam being the German word for "watchful." Apparently, overcome by curiosity, the man cannot resist his desire to see the young women concealed behind the wall. Scenes with amorous, sometimes voyeuristic overtones are common in the work of Mongin. The artist also seems fascinated with depicting the exact details of his settings. In 1824, a critic who saw The Curious One wrote that Mongin's paintings are "portraits of houses coated in plaster, garden trees, almost trivial details, and this pleases me greatly. Full of naiveté, this is what I need in a landscape, as in a representation of man's actions." The critic's comments clearly demonstrate his appreciation for Mongin's work, as well as the artist's belief in the inherent relationship between nature and man.
Antoine Pierre Mongin
Few documents have survived relating to Antoine-Pierre Mongin's life, and one can only attempt its reconstruction by interpreting the works that have survived. He studied at the London Royal Academy of Arts from 1782 to 1785 and exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon between 1791 and 1824. Mongin painted many subjects-rural and urban landscapes, scenes of military life, genre scenes and those inspired by literature. He also narrated subjects from French history ranging from Joan of Arc to Napoleon.1 Almost all his works that have appeared at auction since 1920 are gouaches, and only a half-dozen of his paintings have been recorded.2 Since the 1975 exhibition French Painting 1774-1830: The Age of Revolution, publications have brought to light additional information about him. A book, published in 1977 about Godefroy Engelmann, one of the initiators of lithography in France, points out the fundamental role that Mongin played in Engelmann's establishment in Paris in 1816.3 Mongin, who knew Paris's artistic milieu, had propagated lithography even before Engelmann arrived. He captured the interest of writer and theoretician Quatremère de Quincy, but especially of the artists Bertin (q.v.), Girodet (q.v.), and Carle Vernet (1758-1836). Bernard Jacqué, curator of the Musée de l'Impression sur Étoffes in Mulhouse, recently researched another facet of Mongin's artistic talent: he designed wallpaper for Jean Zuber & Compagnie in 1802.4 His panoramic landscapes established a new fashion, and designs such as the Gardens of France of 1821 were still being printed in the late 1840s.5
1. Robert Rosenblum, French Painting 1774-1830: The Age of Revolution, exh. cat., Paris/Detroit/New York (1975), 553.
2. Ibid., 553.
3. Michel Melot, review of Léon Lang's book, Godefroy Engelmann imprimeur-lithographe: Les incunables, 1814-1817 (Colmar, France, 1977), in "Les premières lithographies françaises," Nouvelles de l'estampe no. 34-35 (July-October 1977).
4. Bernard Jacqué, Le papier peint, décor d'illusion (Barembach, France, 1987).
5. London sale, Christie's (3 July 1990), lot 129, p. 143.