‘At Least Be Discreet’ (Au moins soyez discret), Augustin de Saint-Aubin, 1789
etching, h 363mm × w 261mm More details
Two lovers – actually the artist himself and his wife – bid farewell to each other after a secret romantic encounter. Roses, here as a bouquet in the woman’s boudoir or as a boutonnière on the man’s waistcoat, conveyed an unmistakable erotic subtext in the late 18th century. The compositions are framed in the manner of ‘peepholes’, mischievously turning the viewer into a voyeur.
