Charles Jean Louis Courtry (1846–97)
“La Fontaine”, 1880,
after a painting of the same name by Jean
Jacques Henner (1829–1905), printed by Alfred
Salmon (1863–94; fl.), published in “L'Art”, XXI, 1880, page 180.
Etching with
drypoint on cream laid paper with full margins as published.
Size: (sheet)
42.8 x 29.8 cm; (plate) 27.7 x 21.6 cm; (image borderline) 24.2 x 19.1 cm.
Lettered above
the image borderline (centre): “SALON DE 1880.”
Lettered below
the image borderline with production detail and title: (left) “J.J. Henner
pinx. / L'Art”; (centre) “LA FONTAINE”; (right) “Ch. Courtry sc. / Imp. A.
Salmon.”
The British
Museum offers the following description of this print: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3356685&partId=1&searchText=la+Fontaine+henner&page=1
IFF 103 (Inventaire
du Fonds Français: Bibliothèque Nationale, Département des Estampes, Paris,
1930); Beraldi 1885-92 12 (Beraldi, Henri, “Les Graveurs du dix-neuvième siècle”,
12 vols plus supplement, Paris, 1885)
Condition: a
richly inked and sensitively printed impression in near pristine condition
(i.e. there are no tears, stains, abrasions, holes or foxing).
I am selling
this richly worked etching by Coutry for a total cost of [deleted] including postage and handling to anywhere in the
world.
If you are
interested in purchasing this softly beautiful nude, please contact me
(oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make
the payment easy.
A hallmark of great
artists is the way that they represent areas of strong shadow in their artworks.
By this I mean that uncommitted artists working in a perfunctory manner are
likely to spread a relatively even layer of tone to portray shadows, whereas
more insightful artists add “life” to their representation of shadows with a
complex layering of strokes.
This attribute
of a layered complexity of strokes rendering shadows is what makes this very
beautiful etching of a nude so engaging to examine. From my standpoint, I find
myself drawn to looking into the darks to see what I’m missing at a casual
glance. Going further, what I really love about this print is that my close
examination is rewarded: there are subtle shifts in the direction of groups of aligned
strokes that create subtle rhythms breathing life into the shadows.
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