Louis-Marin Bonnet (1736-1793): Crayon Manner Print - Nude Ephebe - Study of a Nude Boy

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If you are on your toes these days there are occasions when you can buy some things which others think are junk and you know instinctively deep down inside your consciousness are in fact jewels in disguise. Several weeks go I was cruising eBay France when I saw what appeared to my eye to be an 18th Century "crayon manner" print of a nude Eromenos, but which was listed basically as a "junk" drawing. Drawings do not have "plate marks" my friends so I knew the listing description could not possibly match the reality of what my eyes were seeing, in this case, a "crayon manner" print. I grabbed that little print for a ridiculously low dollar amount and waited for it to arrive. Yesterday it arrived and needless to say the glass in the frame was shattered into multiple pieces but, fortunately, the print sustained no damage. It was, unfortunately, glued down to a cardboard backing. Undaunted, I took a knife and managed to remove the print from the backing without doing any damage. 18th century paper is pretty sturdy so luck was on my side. Needless to say, I now hold in my hands an 18th century "crayon manner" print by the French artist Louis-Marin Bonnet (1736-1793). He was a pupil of Jean-Charles Francois and composed hundreds of drawings and engravings. He maintained a studio-shop (selling his drawings and prints ) circa 1772 in Paris at the corner of Rue St. Jacques.
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Here are two additional examples of his "crayon manner" prints:

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