Edmé-François Gersaint (1694–1750) was a Parisian ''
marchand-mercier
A ''marchand-mercier'' is a French term for a type of entrepreneur working outside the guild system of craftsmen but carefully constrained by the regulations of a ''corporation'' under rules codified in 1613. The reduplicative term literally mean ...
'' (merchant) who specialised in the sale of works of art and
luxury goods and who is noted for revolutionising the art market by preparing, for the first time, detailed catalogs with descriptions of the work and biographies of the artist.
Life and career
Edmé-François Gersaint (1694–1750) was a Parisian ''
marchand-mercier
A ''marchand-mercier'' is a French term for a type of entrepreneur working outside the guild system of craftsmen but carefully constrained by the regulations of a ''corporation'' under rules codified in 1613. The reduplicative term literally mean ...
'' who was a central figure in the development of the
art market
The art market is the marketplace of buyers and sellers trading in commodities, services, and works of art.
The art market operates in an economic model that considers more than supply and demand: it is a hybrid type of prediction market where ...
and the luxury trades during the era of the
Régence
The ''Régence'' (, ''Regency'') was the period in French history between 1715 and 1723 when King Louis XV was considered a minor and the country was instead governed by Philippe d'Orléans (a nephew of Louis XIV of France) as prince regen ...
and the rule of the
rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
style. His shadowy figure has always been connected with his caring friendship with the dying
Antoine Watteau
Jean-Antoine Watteau (, , ; baptised October 10, 1684died July 18, 1721) Alsavailablevia Oxford Art Online (subscription needed). was a French painter and draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement, a ...
, which resulted in the familiar shop sign painted in 1720, conserved at
Charlottenburg
Charlottenburg () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Prussia, it is best known for Charlottenburg Palace, the ...
, a masterpiece that provided publicity for Watteau as much as for Gersaint himself, but he had to wait until 2002 for his first in-depth biography. For his whole career, Gersaint presided from his cramped
boutique, hardly more than a permanent booth with a little
backshop, on the medieval
Pont Notre-Dame
The Pont Notre-Dame is a bridge that crosses the Seine in Paris, France linking the ''quai de Gesvres'' on the Rive Droite with the ''quai de la Corse'' on the Île de la Cité. The bridge is noted for being the "most ancient" in Paris, in the s ...
, in the heart of the heart of Paris, both creating and following fashion as he purveyed works of art and luxurious trifles to an aristocratic clientele, an artistic creator in his own way.
![Marie-Louise Sirois (1698-1725), by Antoine Watteau](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Marie-Louise_Sirois_%281698-1725%29%2C_by_Antoine_Watteau.jpg)
Born in 1694 in a modest merchant family of
Burgundian origins, Gersaint's family relocated to Paris in the late 1690s. He was orphaned at a young age, his father, Edmé-François Gersaint died in 1707 and his mother, Edmée-Marguerite Rigault died in 1710. He was subsequently raised by an aunt. In 1716, he was apprenticed to the merchant, Charles Grimeau in le Pont Notre-Dame. He began his career as a merchant in 1718, purchasing the stock-in-trade and inheriting the clientele of a picture dealer on the
Petit Pont
Petite or petite may refer to:
*Petit (crater), a small, bowl-shaped lunar crater on Mare Spumans
* ''Petit'' (EP), a 1995 EP by Japanese singer-songwriter Ua
* Petit (typography), another name for brevier-size type
*Petit four
* Petit Gâteau
*P ...
, Antoine Dieu ''Au Grand Monarque'', with a modest capital. Situated on the Quai de la Mégisserie at Le Pont Notre Dame, the area where the shop was located had been dominated the craftsmen miroitiers in the late 17th century, but by the time Gersaint established his shop it was in transition and becoming the home to many painters. In the same year, he married Marie-Louise Sirois, daughter of Pierre Sirois, glassmaker and merchant. He was aged 24 years and his bride, 22 years.
His shop initially dealt in European objects d'art. In around 1738, he changed the name of his shop from ''Au Grand Monarque'' to ''A la Pagode'' and began specialising in Chinese porcelain and Asian lacquers, as well as the French imitation known as ''venis Martin.'' He was amongst the first dealers to travel to Holland in search of wares, making more than a dozen trips via the Dutch East India company. He was at the centre of European collectors and merchants, attracting clientele from the aristocracy and the leading dealers of Paris.
Two inventories of Gersain's stock, taken in 1725 and 1750, revealed to his biographer, Guillaume Glorieux, the extent to which Gersaint's concerns had broadened from its inception, to concentrate as much on furniture (some 45% of the inventory valuation), exotic novelties, oriental lacquer and porcelain, tea and coffee equipages, shells from tropical seas, as on the presentation of paintings, cleaned and stylishly framed, and mirrors, during decades when Paris regarded itself as the center of civilization. He even resorted to selling licentious books under the counter to his clientele.
From the 1730s, Gersaint began to develop a number of innovative practices in sales. He was the first Parisian art dealer to use auctions for the sale of artworks and furniture, although he almost certainly borrowed this idea from Holland and Antwerp where auctions had long been used for the sale of luxury goods. He also made extensive use of advertising in the press, notably the ''Mercure of France''. Starting in 1733, Gersaint compiled catalogues for
auction sales in Paris. His catalogs were first to introduce detailed descriptions of the work and biographies of the artist. Another Parisian art dealer,
François-Charles Joullain, built on his work by compiling the first index that documented provenance and the prices paintings had fetched at auctions. He followed up with a more detailed version in 1786. Between the contributions of Gersaint and Joullaint, the role of the art dealer in the valuation process was fundamentally transformed. Whereas art historians and curators were responsible for evaluating a painting's artistic merit, the dealer was responsible for evaluating a work's provenance. Thus, the art dealer was transformed into an expert.
Gersaint notably catalogued the collections of Quentin de Lorangère (2 March 1744),
Antoine de la Roque (22 April 1745), and Angran, vicomte de Fonspertuis (17 December 1747); artists' biographies were appended to Gersaint's extended descriptions of their work. Gersaint's ''Catalogue raisonné de toutes les piėces qui forment l'oeuvre de Rembrandt'' (published posthumously, Paris, 1751), was the first
catalogue raisonné
A ''catalogue raisonné'' (or critical catalogue) is a comprehensive, annotated listing of all the known artworks by an artist either in a particular medium or all media. The works are described in such a way that they may be reliably identified ...
of a single artist's graphic work, addressing at length the connoisseurship issues in distinguishing Rembrandt's work from that of his pupils in a chapter on doubtful attributions.
Gersaint's shop
![Gersaint-detail](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Gersaint-detail.jpg)
Gersaint's boutique shop in Paris achieved renown beyond its time due to a painting, ''L’Enseigne de Gersaint'' made by the artist,
Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721). (It was to be the artist's final picture as he was suffering from consumption at the time of preparing it and died just months after finishing the work. (See picture ''
L'Enseigne de Gersaint
''L'Enseigne de Gersaint'' () is an oil on canvas painting in the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin, by French painter Jean-Antoine Watteau. Completed during 1720–21, it is considered to be the last prominent work of Watteau, who died some time ...
'' above and detail at left.) ''L'Enseign'' (1720) is a painting depicting the interior of Gersaint's shop, it was originally intended to be used as a retail sign placed over the shop entrance, but was only displayed for a fortnight before being removed. It was much admired by Parisians during its brief period on display. Following its removal, the painting languished for a time in a store-room, was eventually sold to
Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...
of Prussia and is now on display in Berlin. The sign shows the shop interior, richly stocked with works of art in gilded frames, furniture, etchings, and curiosities along with a cast of eight elegantly dressed characters who appear to be discussing the artwork and subjecting the works to their critical eye.
The painting exaggerates the size of Gersaint's cramped
boutique, which in reality was hardly more than a permanent booth with a little
backshop, on the medieval
Pont Notre-Dame
The Pont Notre-Dame is a bridge that crosses the Seine in Paris, France linking the ''quai de Gesvres'' on the Rive Droite with the ''quai de la Corse'' on the Île de la Cité. The bridge is noted for being the "most ancient" in Paris, in the s ...
, in the heart of Paris. It also depicts patrons dressed for a 15th-century royal court which suggests that it presented an idealised view of the past. Historians have pointed to the primitive nature of shops in early 18th-century Paris, noting that shops situated at Quai de la Mégisserie at Le Pont Notre Dame rarely had shopfronts. Assuming this to be the case for Gersaint's dealership, the staff would have been obliged to cart the inventory into a back room every day. The painting shows that the walls were of bare stone, rather than the plastered interior which was already being used in London at this time. Nevertheless, Gersaint created a following as he purveyed works of art and luxurious trifles for an aristocratic clientele.
["Gersaint, faiseur de modes, suiveur de modes, est, d'une autre façon que Watteau, un créateur vrai", remarks Daniel Roche in his preface to Glorieux 2002, p. v]
See also
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Merchant
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Retail
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and ...
Works
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Notes
Further reading
* Dacier, Émile; Vuaflart, Albert; Herold, Jacques (1921–1929). ''Jean de Julienne et les graveurs de Watteau au XVIII-e siècle'' (in French). Paris: M. Rousseau. Volume
123 an
4available via the
Heidelberg University Library
The University Library Heidelberg (german: Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg) is the central library of the University of Heidelberg. It constitutes together with the 83 decentralized libraries of the faculties and institutes the University Lib ...
repository
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gersaint, Edme-Francois
1694 births
1750 deaths
Businesspeople from Paris
French art dealers
Rembrandt scholars
Retail company founders
French businesspeople in retailing