Gallery of prints for sale

Sunday 26 January 2020

Ferdinand Gaillard's engraving, “L'homme à l'oeillet”, 1869, after Jan van Eyck


Ferdinand Gaillard (aka Claude Ferdinand Gaillard) (1834–1887)

L'homme à l'oeillet” (The Man with the Carnation) (aka “Portrait of a Man with Carnation and the Order of Saint Anthony”; “Man with a Pink Carnation”; “Man with Pinks”; “Porträt eines Mannes von Garofano”), 1869, after the oil on oak painting, “Portrait of Jean de Bauière, L'homme à l'oeillet” (collection of the Staatlisches Museum in Berlin), c.1436, by Jan van Eyck (c.1390–1441), originally published in “La Gazette des Beaux-Arts” (Paris) in 1869. This impression was published by Albert Quantin (1850–1930) in c.1878 and printed by Charles Chardon aîné (fl.c.1850–1878).

Regarding Van Eyck’s painting, in “The Painted Carnation: A Pictorial Flower (Second Part)” (https://www.journaldespeintres.com/loeillet-peint-une-fleur-picturale-derniere-partie/), Tony Goupil (2012) proposes (in translation) that the “portrait would have been done in fact by an epigone of Van Eyck” and that the subject “could possibly be Jean of Bavaria, bishop of Liège, nicknamed Jean without mercy … and wears a silver cross of the order of Saint Anthony.” Goupil explains that the red and white carnations held by the subject are emblems of “love and constancy.” From my understanding of these dual emblems (love and constancy), there is a link between the notion of memento mori (i.e. the inevitability of death) in the fading life of flowers and the ongoing painful element of what Goupil describes as “affliction, the regret to see them wither.”

Engraving on chine collé on wove paper.
Size: (sheet) 25.6 x 21.9 cm; (plate) 19.7 x 15.1 cm; (chine collé) 18.7 x 13.5 cm; (image borderline) 15 x 11.6 cm.
Lettered on plate above the image borderline: (centre) “EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE DE 1878”.
Lettered on plate below the image borderline: (left) “VAN EYCK PINX/ Gazette des Beaux-Arts”; (centre) “L'HOMME A L'ŒILLET./ (GALERIE DE MR SUERMONDT.)/ A. QUANTIN EDITEUR”; (right) “GAILLARD SCULP./ Imp.Ch.Chardon ainé”.

State vi (of vi) with the lettered publication details (see an impression of state v at the National Gallery of Art: https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.32757.html.

IFF 38 (Bibliothèque Nationale, Départment des Estampes 1939–, “Inventaire du Fonds Français: Graveurs du XVIIe siècle”, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France); Beraldi 1885–92 25.VI/VI (Henri Beraldi 1885–1892, “Les graveurs du XIXe siecle, guide de l'amateur d'estampes modernes”, 12 vols., Paris, Librairie L. Conquet).

The British Museum offers a description of this print in its fourth state:
“Portrait of a man seen half-length, turned to left, holding a carnation in his right hand; after Van Eyck”

See also the brief description of this print at the Art Institute Chicago:

Condition: well-printed near faultless impression in almost pristine condition for its age (i.e. there are no tears, folds, holes, losses, abrasions, stains, foxing or signs of handling).

I am selling this masterpiece of 19th century engraving—possibly the most sensitively executed and technically accomplished engraving of the late 1800s—for the total cost of AU$288 (currently US$196.72/EUR178.29/GBP150.48 at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world (but not, of course, any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries).

If you are interested in purchasing this incredibly fine engraving where a microscope is needed to see the linework, 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