Art Institute of Chicago
Au Moins Soyez Discret (At Least be Discreet)
Augustin de Saint-Aubin
- Date
- 1789
- Medium
- Etching and engraving on ivory laid paper
- Culture
- France
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
This portrait and its companion print Depend on My Promises (1926.918) are likely based on sketches of Augustin de Saint-Aubin and his wife in their youth. The prints depict two fashionable young lovers murmuring sweet nothings to each other as daybreak brings their tryst to an end. The figures lean toward each other in their respective oval frames as if to break the barrier separating them before parting. The prints are deliciously ambiguous, for the young man may or may not intend to keep the affair secret. Indeed, the tiny cupids in cameos beneath each frame suggest a less positive interpretation: hers laments that love is blind; while his has plucked a rose, rejoicing in his triumph over virtue.
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- Object type
- AAT300041273
Related across collections
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At Least Be Discreet
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Comptez sur mes Serments (Depend on my Promises)
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You May Count on Me
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“- Times are difficult; this year we must learn to be more modest... - Don't tell me, my dear Ducorneau.... as far as I am concerned, every time I go to the theatre I now deny myself the company of my wife....,” plate 2 from Tout Ce Qu'on Voudra
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Laundress and Her Child (Aline and Pierre)
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“- Sir, you who are so good, can't you get me small position?.... I am able to furnish you the best references on my honesty.... - You have always remained honest?... But in that case, my worthy man, why the devil have you come to me? You ought to know that I concentrate all my business and all my charities on this highly interesting class of freed convicts! Why don't you go and steal something or at least kill a bit... and once you are out of Toulon-prison, come and see me... I'll be delighted to offer you a helping hand!,” plate 19 from Les Philantropes Du Jour
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Ne doit-on pas la vérité à ses amies ?
Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris