Choffard

Pierre-Philippe Choffard was the kind of artist whose name appeared in tiny print beneath his gorgeous etchings, yet whose work helped define the visual culture of 18th-century France. Vera Salomons's biography restores this underappreciated engraver to his proper place in art history, tracing his journey from a young man of modest means who found joy in intricate designs to a sought-after illustrator whose burins brought wit and charm to some of the era's most beautiful books. The book follows Choffard's training, his associations with publishers and fellow artists, and his collaborations on landmark editions including the celebrated 1762 La FontaineContes et nouvelles en vers, where his delicate plates shared pages with work by Eisen. Salomons writes with genuine appreciation for the craft of engraving, that painstaking process of cutting into copper to create images that would grace thousands of copies. The result is both a portrait of an artist and a window into the flourishing world of French book production in the years before revolution. For anyone who has ever lingered over the intricate illustrations in an old French volume, this book reveals the hand behind the beauty.