Nicolas-Toussaint Charlet

From his early childhood days the painter and lithographer, Nicolas-Toussaint Charlet, was a convinced Bonapartist thanks to the influence of his father, who had served as a dragoon in the glorious campaigns of the Republican armies and had brought his son up to revere Napoleon. In 1817 Charlet entered Gros’ studio and a few years later published his first lithographs, which soon caused a stir in Paris. There are good grounds for asserting that Charlet helped pave the way for the 1830 Revolution by championing the ‘Napoleonic legend’ in defiance of the Bourbon monarchy. In his lithographic work he celebrated the soldiers of the Empire and the glorious deeds of the Grande Armée. Charlet also made a name for himself as a capricious and satirical observer of everyday Parisian life, as is evidenced by the present early lithograph. The artist portrays a public festival at which wine is dispensed free of charge. Festivals of this kind were staged in the days of the Restoration in Paris with the aim of keeping the rebellious population of the city in good humour. The turbulent gathering is very much to Charlet’s taste and his earthy, caricaturing drawing style is in keeping with the tumult of the delirious throng. In the front left a Napoleonic war veteran disapprovingly turns his back on the wild goings-on. A few years later Louis-Léopold Boilly depicted an identical scene with more subtle powers of observation and greater skill as a draughtsman. Nonetheless, it is Charlet’s use of a crude vernacular that makes his depiction a valuable contemporary account of French history around 1820. A very fine,early impression with margins. Published by Villain, before the reprint of 1832. Minor ageing, otherwise in excellent condition.