Théophile Chauvel, “Clair de Lune”, 1873, after John Crome the Younger

Théophile Chauvel (aka Théophile-Narcisse Chauvel) (1831–1909)

“Clair de Lune” (Moonlight), 1873, after a painting by John Crome the Younger (aka John Barney Crome; John Berney Crome) (1768-1821), printed by François Liénard (fl.c.1860s–1880s) and published in Paris by Jules Alexandre Saturnin Claye (aka Jules Claye) (1806–1886) between pages 16 and 17 in “Collection de M. John W. Wilson: exposée dans la Galerie du Cercle Artistique et Littéraire de Bruxelles: Et Littéraire de Bruxelles, Au Profit Des Pauvres de Cette Ville” (Collection of Mr. John W. Wilson exhibited in the gallery of the Artistic and Literary Circle of Brussels, for the benefit of the poor of that city).

Archive.org offers an online view of this print and its context in the publication: https://archive.org/details/collectiondemjoh00gale/page/n41/mode/2up. The accompanying text facing the print gives the following description: (transl.) “In the foreground, on the left, are the crenelated wall and a tower of a ruined castle. To the right, water, a willow, and other trees. The rising moon pierces this clump of trees with its rays.”

Note: The IFF (Inventaire du Fonds Français) (1949) advises that John Crome the Elder (aka “Old Crome”) (1768–1821) made the painting on which this etching is based (see cat. no. 26, p. 421 [https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5510949t/f443.item]. Nevertheless, I am mindful that reference to John Crome the Younger (John Barney Crome) is inscribed in plate as the painter and that after looking through Norman L. Goldberg’s [1978] catalogue of works by John Crome the Elder that this painting is not described.

Etching on laid paper with full margins as published.

Size: (sheet) 35.3 x 26.2 cm; (plate) 22.8 x 17.7 cm; (image borderline) 18.5 x 15.7 cm.

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: (left) “John Barney Crome pinx.”; (centre) “CLAIR DE LUNE/ F^çois Liénard,Imp.Paris.”; (right) “Th.Chauvel, sc.”

IFF 26 (Jean Adhémar 1949, “Inventaire du Fonds Français après 1800: CABANE–CICÉRI”, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département des Estampes, vol. 4, p. 423, cat. no. 26 [see https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5510949t/f443.item]).

See also the description of this print offered by the British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1877-1013-1817.

Condition: a richly inked and well-printed (near faultless) impression with generously wide margins in a pristine condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains or signs of handling.

I am selling this superb and densely worked etching, for AU$238 approximately (US$155.30, EUR 132.75, or GBP 115.15), with worldwide express shipping included. Please note that any applicable import duties are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you're interested in purchasing this evocative etching, which depicts a softly glowing scene of moonlight illuminating castle ruins and, upon close inspection, a worker carrying a bundle of timber, please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I will gladly send you a PayPal invoice to streamline the payment process.

Théophile Chauvel’s oil painting, “The Road to Arbonne, August 29, 1906”

Théophile Chauvel (aka Théophile Narcisse Chauvel) (1831–c1914)

“The Road to Arbonne, August 29, 1906” (or, as annotated verso on panel, “La Route d'Arbonne/ 29 Août 1906”), 1906, unsigned panel from a group of three panels purchased from a French dealer; see earlier listings (now sold): https://www.printsandprinciples.com/2022/09/theophile-chauvels-oil-painting-on.html; https://www.printsandprinciples.com/2022/11/theophile-chauvels-oil-painting.html.

Interestingly, Théodore Rousseau (aka Étienne Pierre Théodore Rousseau) (1812–1867) painted, “Sunset near Arbonne” (c1860–65) close to where Chauvel executed this small oil sketch—an area that Asher Miller (2022) in the description of Rousseau’s painting held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art advises as being approximately “three miles” from the village of Barbizon at “the edge of Fontainebleau Forest” where “Romantic artists had long been attracted … [to its] rocky outcroppings, boulders, and strange, twisted trees” (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437520). See also Gustave Greux’s (aka Gustave Marie Greux) (1838–1919) etching held by the British Museum after Rousseau’s painting: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1916-0411-25.  

Oil on wood panel (not signed).

Size: 15.5 x 24.5 cm.

Hand inscribed ink annotation verso: (upper right corner) “La Route d'Arbonne/ 29 Août 1906”.

Condition: the painting is in an excellent condition. The edges of the panel on the back are chamfered and there are remnants of glue possibly from the panel having once been framed.

I am selling this small oil study on wood panel—clearly executed on location rather than in the studio—by one of the better known of the French printmakers of the 19^th century, for AU$593 (currently US$396.36/EUR258.63/GBP315.69 at the time of posting this listing) 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 small jewel of a painting, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This painting has been sold

Théophile Chauvel’s etching, “Cows near the Watermill”, 1861

Théophile Chauvel (aka Théophile Narcisse Chauvel) (1831–1909)

“Cows near the Watermill” (aka “Les Vaches près du moulin à eau” [Delteil title]), 1861, plate 3 from a suite of six etchings (Folio 1) published by Cadart et Chevalier (Alfred Cadart and Félix Chevalier) (fl.1861–1863) and printed by Auguste Delâtre (aka Auguste Marie Delâtre) (1822–1907) in Paris.

This is one of Chauvel’s earliest etchings and, like most of his first prints, it is likely to have been after what Loys Delteil (1900) describes as a painted study (“une étude peinte”) (see https://archive.org/details/thophilechauvel00deltgoog/page/n38/mode/2up?q=Del%C3%A2tre).

Etching on laid paper with wide margins backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 34 x 49.1 cm; (plate) 14.7 x 21.8 cm; (image borderline) 13.6 x 21.3 cm.

Scratch-lettered (almost illegible) in plate below the image borderline: (left) “T. Chauvel 61”; (right) “Imp Delatre Paris”.

State ii (of ii) with the addition of the publication details for Delâtre.

Delteil 4 (Loys Delteil 1900, “Théophile Chauvel; catalogue raisonné de son œuvre gravé et lithographié”, Paris, L'Estampe et l'Affiche, p. 27, cat. no. 4 [but no. 3 in the series]).

Condition: a strong impression with generously wide margins and laid onto a sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper. Beyond minor surface marks and abrasions to the lower left corner of the margin, the sheet is in an excellent (almost pristine) condition with no significant stains.

I am selling this early etching by Chauvel showing a clear influence of the Barbizon School in his choice of an everyday rural subject and the looseness of his handling, for the total cost of AU$232 (currently US$162.50/EUR143.58/GBP122.78 at the time of posting this listing) 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 freely executed etching—possibly based on a painted sketch that the artist made in the field or inscribed on the plate directly in front of the scene as was the approach often adopted by the Barbizon artists—please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Théophile Chauvel’s etching, “Solitude”, 1862

Théophile Chauvel (aka Théophile-Narcisse Chauvel) (1831–1909)

“Solitude,” 1862, Plate 41 from sixty etchings featured in the first year (September 1862–August 1863) and first volume of prints produced by the Société des Aquafortistes, “Eaux-Fortes Modernes: Originales et Inédites” (Modern Etchings: Original and New), printed by Auguste Delâtre (aka Auguste Marie Delâtre) (1822–1907) and published by A. Cadart & F. Chevalier (fl.1861–1863) and A. Cadart & Luquet (fl.1863–1867) in May 1863 in Paris.

Etching on watermarked laid paper with the blindstamp of the publisher and printed with full margins (as published).

Size: (sheet) 35.7 x 53 cm; (plate) 23.5 x 31.4 cm; (image borderline) 21.2 x 25.9 cm.

Inscribed on plate within the image borderline: (lower left corner) “T. Chauvel 62”.

Numbered on plate above the image borderline: (upper right corner) “41.”

Lettered on plate below the image borderline: (left) “T. Chauvel pinxt. & sculpt.”; (centre) “SOLITUDE./ Paris, Publié par A. CADART & F. CHEVALIER, Éditeurs, Rue Richelieu, 66.”; (right) Imp. Delâtre, Rue St. Jacques, 303, Paris.”

Blindstamped below the platemark: (centre) “A CADART & LUQUET/ EDITEURS/ 66 R.[UE] RICHELIEU”.

IFF 5 (Inventaire du Fonds Français: Bibliothèque Nationale, Département des Estampes).

The British Museum, National Gallery of Australia and the Harvard Art Museums offer descriptions of this print:

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1864-1008-249;

https://artsearch.nga.gov.au/detail.cfm?irn=34820;

https://hvrd.art/o/239597.

Condition: richly inked and faultless impression with generously wide margins. The sheet is in near pristine condition for its age (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, significant stains or foxing).

I am selling this large etching exemplifying the Romantic spirit of nineteenth-century France for AU$228 in total (currently US$162.53/EUR137.93/GBP123.98 at the time of this listing) including Express Mail [EMS] 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 acquiring this graphically strong etching with its subtle reference to the great landscape tradition dating back to Poussin in the placement of a figure dwarfed by the surrounding forest, 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

Théophile-Narcisse Chauvel’s etching, “Environs de Rouen (Seine Inférieure)”, 1873

Théophile-Narcisse Chauvel (1831–1909)

“Environs de Rouen (Seine Inférieure)”, 1873, printed and published in Paris in 1873 by Alfred Cadart (1828–1875) as plate 9 in “L'Eau-Forte” (a volume featuring four years of prints).

Etching with drypoint on laid paper.

Size: (sheet) 24 x 33.9 cm; (plate) 15.8 x 23.6 cm; (image borderline) 14.5 x 21.3 cm.

Numbered on plate above the image borderline: (right corner) “9.”

Inscribed on plate within the image borderline: (lower left corner) “th Chauvel 78”

Lettered on plate below the image borderline: (left) “'Th. Chauvel, del. et scup.”; (centre)  “ENVIRONS DE ROUEN (Seine Inférieure).”; (right) “A. CADART, Edit. Imp. Rue Nve. des Mathurins, 58, Paris.”

IFF 25 (Inventaire du Fonds Français: Bibliothèque Nationale, Département des Estampes, Paris, 1930)

The British Museum offers a description of this print:

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1882-0211-299.

Condition: richly inked, faultless impression in pristine condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, losses, abrasions, stains, foxing or signs of use).

I am selling this very beautiful print executed with great sensitivity—note how each stroke is shaped with the “right” curve, tone and size to visually explain the form of what is portrayed … even the vapourous volumes of clouds—for AU$210 (currently US$144.19/EUR128.06/GBP114.90 at the time of posting this listing) 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 romantic etching (with drypoint) showing a shepherdess pensively gazing at towards the estuary of the Seine at a time when lives were being changed as the new age of mechanisation advanced—perhaps the artist’s treatment of the twisting and twiggy form of the tree in the foreground stands as an analogue of the shepheress’ thoughts?—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