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Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 5,000
ARNAUD-ELOI GAUTIER D'AGOTY Venus and Apollo.
Two color mezzotints, 1773. Both approximately 535x385 mm; 21 1/4x15 1/4 inches, wide margins. Published by Jean-Baptiste-Hyacinthe Leclerc, Nancy. From Cours complet d'anatomie. Superb impressions of these very scarce, early color engravings.
Gautier d'Agoty (1716-1785) was the assistant and successor to the master painter, engraver and pioneer of color printing Jacob Christoph Le Blon (1667-1741). Le Blon had experimented with a three-color process for color-printing--following Isaac Newton's ground-breaking studies into the formation of color--but Gautier d'Agoty elevated the art to a higher level with the addition of a fourth black plate which gave the resultant images their superb tonal contrast and artistic depth. After the death of Le Blon, Gautier d'Agoty's refinement of Le Blon's technique aroused controversy until in 1745 he was awarded the exclusive use of his own technique. Singer 1 and 2.
