ADOLPHE LALAUZE

SCENE FROM GIL BLAS: THE DISCOVERY IN DOÑA MENCIA’S CHAMBER

ADOLPHE LALAUZE
Rive-de-Gier 1838 – 1906 Milly-la-Forêt

Pen, ink and watercolor wash on paper
29.5 × 23.5 cm / 11.6 × 9.3 in
Framed: 58.5 × 47 cm / 23 × 18.5 in
Original period frame, circa 1930s

This dramatic drawing captures one of the most emotionally charged moments in Alain-René Lesage’s Les Aventures de Gil Blas de Santillane — the unexpected nocturnal intrusion into the chamber of Doña Mencia. A burst of sudden light, the agitated gestures, and the theatrical confrontation of figures translate the tension of the episode with cinematic intensity, revealing the moral complexity and social theatre that made Gil Blas one of the defining literary works of modern European consciousness.

The sheet is an outstanding work by Adolphe Lalauze, among the most distinguished French illustrators and etchers of the late nineteenth century. A pupil of Léon Gaucherel, Lalauze exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1872, received medals in 1876 and 1878, and was appointed Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. Renowned for his sophisticated narrative intelligence, precision of line and masterful tonal modulation, he illustrated many of the great literary monuments of his age, including Don Quixote, The Arabian Nights and Walter Scott’s novels.

This drawing is of particular significance as an original model created for one of Lalauze’s most celebrated bibliophile enterprises — the major illustrated edition of Gil Blas published in Paris by Édouard Rouveyre around 1880 (Suite de vingt et une estampes pour servir à l’illustration de… Histoire de Gil Blas). While the printed etchings disseminated the imagery to a wide audience, only the original drawings, such as the present example, reveal the full expressive richness of the artist’s hand: the vibrating light of the candle, the orchestration of shadow, the psychological precision of posture and gaze.

Over the last decade, late nineteenth-century graphic art has undergone a profound reevaluation. Long overshadowed by painting and too often known only through reproductive prints, the original works of the great illustrators are increasingly recognised as autonomous artistic creations — intimate documents of imagination, intellect and technical virtuosity. The present sheet is a rare and exceptionally beautiful testimony to this rediscovered world: a powerful narrative image, bound to a foundational European novel and executed with remarkable artistic refinement.