CHODOWIECKI, Daniel Nikolaus
(b. 1726, Danzig, d. 1801, Berlin)

Self-Portrait with Family at the Table

1771
Etching, 180 x 230 mm
Private collection

In 1771 Daniel Chodowiecki, a draughtsman, etcher, and book illustrator portrayed his professional success as the result of hard-working personal modesty and an orderly family life. While removing himself into the corner as the hard-working observer, he let all the light fall on his family. In a studio living-space with many pictures hanging on the walls, his wife, daughters and sons crowd around the common table. They are studying, drawing and communicating, they show themselves to be a morally intact community.