Artwork
Le Goûter
Le Goûter is a paint print by the Baroque artist Louis-Marin Bonnet. It dates from 1764 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
The work depicts a modestly dressed family taking an afternoon snack outdoors beside an elegant building.
Le Goûter is a color stipple print executed by Louis-Marin Bonnet in 1764. The work depicts a modestly dressed family taking an afternoon snack outdoors beside an elegant building. The composition includes a woman in blue with a child on her lap, a man in a red coat serving from a tray, a kneeling servant, and a playing child, all set within a garden featuring potted plants, a tree and a small statue.
Subject & Meaning
The title, translating to "afternoon snack," frames the scene as a quiet slice of domestic life. By focusing on a simple, convivial moment, the print highlights the genteel routines of the period, suggesting a cultural appreciation for refined leisure and the subtle hierarchy within household service.
Technique & Style
Created with the color stipple method, the image achieves a delicate tonal range through fine dots of pigment. This technique yields soft, muted hues while preserving precise outlines, allowing Bonnet to render textures—such as fabric and foliage—with clarity. The overall effect aligns with late Baroque sensibilities that favored graceful composition and refined detail.
History & Provenance
The print was produced in the mid‑eighteenth century, a time when French printmakers increasingly catered to a market for genteel genre scenes. While specific ownership records are scarce, the work is documented in catalogues of Bonnet's oeuvre and appears in collections that focus on French decorative prints of the 1700s.
Artist & collection
