Ferdinand Gaillard (aka Claude Ferdinand Gaillard)
(1834-87)
“Oedipe”,
c.1870, after Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’
(1780–1867) painting, “Oedipus and the Sphinx/Oedipe et le Sphinx”, 1808–27 (in
the Louvre [R.F. 218]), published in “La Gazette des Beaux Arts” in September
1867 and as plate 7 in “Les chefs d’œuvre”. This impression was printed by
Taneur in Paris.
Engraving on warm
buff coloured chine collé laid on heavy white wove paper with margins (as
published?).
Size: (sheet) 30.9
x 21.2 cm; (plate) 23.3 x 17.8 cm; (chine collé) 21.8 x 16.1 cm; (image
borderline) 19.1 x 14.6 cm
Inscribed on
the rock which Oedipus rests his left foot: "I INGRES / PINGEBAT / 1808"
Lettered below the image borderline: (lower left) “INGRES PINXT” / “Les chefs d’œuvre
_ 7”; (lower centre) “ŒDIPE” / “(MUSÉ NATIONAL DU LOUVRE)”; (lower right) "GAILLARD
DEL ET SCULPT" / “Imp. Taneur, Paris.”
Beraldi 1885-92
24.V (Henri Beraldi 1885, “Les Graveurs du dix-neuvième siècle”, 12 vols plus
supplement, Paris); IFF 35 (“Inventaire du Fonds Français: Bibliothèque
Nationale, Département des Estampes”, Paris, 1930); see also the description of
this print held by the British Museum: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3365158&partId=1&searchText=Gaillard+oedipus&page=1
Condition: faultless
impression in pristine condition.
I am selling
this relatively small engraving by one of the major engravers of the 19th
century for AU$42 (currently US$31.41/EUR29.68/GBP25.33 at the time of posting
this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.
If you are
interested in purchasing this small miracle of fine engraving—I need to advise that
the linework rendering each detail in this sumptuously rich interpretation of
Ingres’ painting is almost microscopic—please contact me
(oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make
the payment easy.
This print has been sold
As a quick
reminder about the story illustrated here, the mysterious mythological creature
called “the Sphinx”—an interesting amalgam of woman and lion—was sent by Zeus
to kill Theban folk who were unable to answer a riddle posed by the creature.
In this scene, the Sphinx is shown in state of unhappy apprehension regarding
what to “do” about Oedipus who has just provided the correct answer to the
riddle: "What goes on four feet in the morning, two feet at noon, and
three feet in the evening?" What we don’t see in this illustration is that
the Sphinx resorts to killing herself as a way forward in resolving what to “do”,
a plague kills the folk in Thebes and Oedipus fulfils his ultimate mission in
life of killing his father and marrying his mother. (Some stories are hard to
forget and I wonder about the daily lives of those who concocted such a story!)
From a technical
standpoint, this is a masterwork of engraving. The print is relatively small—my
outstretched hand can almost cover it—but the microscopic fineness of the lines
used to render the details is amazing. I know that there are still master
engravers working with comparable skills, discipline and patience (see for example
the outstanding work of Florian Güllert [Instagram: @floriangullert_engraving] and
David Riccardo [Instagram: @riccardoengraving]) but in terms of achieving such
velvety richness in the dark areas and delicately modelled lights, I see Gaillard as being in a league of
his own.
By the way, if
there are readers who are wondering what the answer to the Sphinx’s riddle
might be, the answer is so obvious: “"Man, for as a babe he is
four-footed, as an adult he is two-footed, and as an old man he gets a third
support, a cane."
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