Etienne Gabriel Bocourt’s etching, “États Généraux, Séance du 23 Juin 1789”, c1882

 

Etienne Gabriel Bocourt (1821–c1882)

“États Généraux, Séance du 23 Juin 1789”, c1882, after the bronze high-relief sculpture by Jules Dalou (1838–1902) exhibited in the Salon of 1883 (see http://www2.culture.gouv.fr/Wave/image/archim/0006/dafanch99_765301_2.jpg).

Wikipedia offers an explanation of the episode portrayed and describes the moment that (in translation) the “grand master of ceremonies, Henri-Évrard de Dreux-Brézé, … [addresses] Bailly, dean of the Assembly and of the Third Estate, to remind him of the king's [Louis XVI (1754–1793) King of France) order. Bailly retorts: ‘The assembled Nation cannot receive orders’. It was then that, according to legend, Mirabeau would have come forward to say: ‘Go tell those who send you that we are here by the will of the people, and that we will only be snatched from it by the power of bayonets’" (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9ance_royale_du_23_juin_1789).

Note that Alphonse Lamotte (1844-1914) also executed the engraving, “Mirabeau responding to Dreux-Brézé” (1889), of the same sculpture by Dalou (see https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9ance_royale_du_23_juin_1789#/media/Fichier:Etats_G%C3%A9n%C3%A9raux_-_grav%C3%A9s_par_Lamotte.jpg).

Etching on cream chine collé on heavy wove paper with wide margins backed with a support sheet of washi paper.

Size: (sheet) 43.6 x 67.5 cm; (plate) 27.7 x 54.8 cm; (chine collé) 26.5 x 53.5 cm; (image borderline) 49.7 x 22 cm.

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: (left) “J. DALOU SCULPSIT.”; (centre) “ÉTATS GÉNÉRAUX, SÉANCE DU 23 JUIN 1789./ Réponse de Mirabeau au marquis de Dreux-Brézé:/ (( Nous sommes ici par la volonté du peuple et nous n’en sortirons que par la puissance de baïonnettes. ))” [(transl.) “GENERAL STATEMENTS, SESSION OF JUNE 23, 1789./ Response from Mirabeau to the Marquis de Dreux-Brézé:/ ((We are here by the will of the people and we will only get out with the power of bayonets.))]; (right) “E. BOCOURT AQUA F.”

Collections des musées de France (Joconde) offers a description of this print: https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/3341dcc1-9d95-4f98-946d-a7542d8ae8f6.

Condition: a richly inked and well-printed impression with generously wide margins laid upon an archival support sheet of millennium quality washi paper. Beyond minor fractures in the chine collé margin at right, this huge etching is in a surprisingly good condition for its size with no significant stains or foxing.

Note that I have previously listed another very large engraving after a sculpture by Jules Dalou. This engraving, “La République”, by Daniel Charles Marie Mordant is still available: see https://www.printsandprinciples.com/2017/10/daniel-charles-marie-mordants-engraving.html.

This print has been sold

I am selling this visually arresting and very finely executed giant of an etching for the total cost of AU$300 (currently US$215.70/EUR190.08/GBP158.64 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 superb rendering of Dalou’s sculpture commemorating a pivotal episode in the Third French Republic (1870–1940), contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

Daniel Charles Marie Mordant’s engraving, “La République”, after Jules Dalou

Daniel Charles Marie Mordant (1854–1914)

“La République”, c1883, published by J Rouam for the “Libraire de l’Art” and printed by Lallemènet after the plaster bas-relief sculpture, “La Fraternité des Peuples”, 1883, by Jules Dalou (aka Aimé-Jules Dalou) (1838–1902), in the Wedding Hall of the Town Hall of Paris (see https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Paris_Mairie_du_10e_60582.JPG). 

Engraving with drypoint (?) and plate tone on laid paper with 3 cm chainlines and supported on fine washi paper.

Size: (sheet) 70.4 x 52.2 cm; (plate) 48.3 x 31 cm; (image borderline) 44.2 x 27.5 cm

Lettered in the plate below the image borderline: (left) “JULES DALOU SCULP. / LIBRAIRIE DE L’ART_J. ROUAM, ÉDITEUR_PARIS.”; (centre) “LA RÉPUBLIQUE”; (right) DANIEL MORDANT AQUAF. / LALLEMÈNT & CIE IMP.”

Condition: an extremely large and near faultless impression with full margins as published. There are a few minor handling marks in the margins, but, for such a large print, this impression is in superb condition. The sheet has been laid upon a conservator’s support sheet.

I am selling this huge, stunningly beautiful and finely rendered engraving for the total cost of AU$300 including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this rare interpretative study of Dalou’s monumental sculpture celebrating the Third French Republic (1870–1940)—unless I have my facts wrong—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

Years ago I spent a great deal of lecture time in my classes explaining the importance of choosing the “best” angle of lighting to give a scene the illusion of three-dimensions. Well … the angle that Mordant has chosen to illuminate Dalou’s sculpture (vis. from the top-front-left) is perfect. Of course, this angle of lighting is only perfect for Western viewers or those that read from left-to-right. Viewers acculturated to read in any other direction (e.g. Arabic, Hebrew and ancient Orientals) may not share the same experience of solid three-dimensions and would need a very different lighting arrangement. For example, I remember showing magazine advertisements published in Israel in which the choice of lighting was the reverse of what Occidental audiences expect (i.e. the advertisements featured light streaming into the scenes from the top-front-right).