1779, Cabin of Jean Baptiste

Work on Paper

-

DePaul Art Museum

Name/Title

1779, Cabin of Jean Baptiste

Entry/Object ID

5932

Description

Partially aerial view of sprawling land along the lake with river running through it. Image of a house on the left and image of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable on the right.

Artwork Details

Medium

Aquatint etching

Subject Place

City

Chicago

State/Province

Illinois

Country

United States of America

Continent

North America

Context

This print is a typical work of Raoul Varin (1865-1943). Though originally from France, Varin was best known for his aquatint etchings depicting realistic views of outdoor Chicago. Often titled using simply the street corner or building shown, these scenes are set mainly in the mid 1800’s (pre-fire) and were created in the 1920’s - 30’s.

Acquisition

Notes

Collection of DePaul Art Museum

Made/Created

Artist

Varin, Raoul

Date made

1930

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

Makers Mark

Transcription

Engraved in aquatint by R. Varin and published by A. Ackermann & Son Inc. Chicago U.S.A. 1930

Type

Signature

Location

BR

Transcription

R. Varin(?)

Lexicon

Legacy Lexicon

Class

WORKS ON PAPER

Interpretative Labels

Label

Fascinating image of Eschikago in 1779, at the time when Jean Baptiste Point de Sable (1750-1818) settled on the Chicago River, thereby becoming the first permanent resident of site which would become the City of Chicago. The image shows a small cabin across from a Native American settlement on the far side of the river, with a larger image of the Cabin and portrait of Saible. Saible is believed to have been of African descent, most likely from Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) in the Caribbean, although some historians believe that he was born in French Canada. He likely trapped and traded furs in the Great Lakes and Illinois Country from the 1770s onward. He married a Native American woman named Kitiwaha. During the American Revolution, he was arrested as a suspected American patriot at Trail Creek by British troops and imprisoned at Fort Michilimackinac for short period, after which time Point du Sable was sent to the Pinery on the St. Clair River north of Detroit, where he remained from 1780 to 1784, managing a tract of woodlands on the St. Clair River in eastern Michigan. owned by Lieutenant. Patrick Sinclair, a British Officer. After the war, Point du Sable settled with his family on the north bank of the Chicago River, with the earliest written account of his residence noted in the Journal of Hugh Heward on May 10, 1790. By 1794, he had been described as a wealthy trader. Point du Sable sold his land to Jean La Lime in 1800 and move to St. Charles (future Missouri capital, but then part of French Louisiana), where he likely remained until his death in 1818. This image first appeared as the frontispiece for A.T. Andreas's History of Chicago, published in 1884 and is here reissued in as part of a numbered limited edition by Raoul Varin in 1930. Varin, a French watercolorist, created a number of early images of Chicago. (Description courtesy of Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps, www.raremaps.com)