Jean Charles Delafosse
Jean Charles Delafosse was active in the realm of drawing and printmaking across the broad period between 1500 and 1734. The surviving works held in museum collections demonstrate the artist’s engagement with both highly formal, detailed ornamentation and sharp, often humorous, character studies.
His body of work represented in institutional collections includes significant design projects, such as the decorative drawing Ornament with Two Bull's Heads and the printed Title page from Cinquieme Livre de Trophées. Contrastingly, Delafosse also produced insightful genre sketches and caricatures that capture social types, including the works Caricature of Engravers "à la Grecque" and Caricature of a Junkman.
Fifteen known works, comprising fourteen drawings and one print, are preserved in prestigious American collections. These holdings, which establish Delafosse’s historical significance, are maintained by institutions such as the Art Institute of Chicago and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Today, his historical works are often available as downloadable artwork, allowing researchers and collectors access to high-quality prints of his designs.
