Auguste Feyen-Perrin, “Woman of the Woods”, 1873/5

Auguste Feyen-Perrin (also known as François-Nicolas-Augustin Feyen-Perrin) (1826–1888)
“Woman of the Woods” (Femme de bois), 1873/5

Technical Details & Condition:

Etching on fine Chine collé, mounted on a support sheet of fine laid paper featuring a partial Arches watermark. This print is sheet number 13 from the portfolio series “Mythologische Darstellungen” (Mythological Representations). It was printed and published in Paris in January 1875 by Alfred Cadart (1828–1875) as plate number 274 for volume 7 of the influential art periodical “L’Illustration Nouvelle”.

This is a richly inked and well-printed—nearly faultless—impression with generously wide margins. The sheet is in near pristine condition, completely free of tears, holes, folds, abrasions, handling marks, or stains.

Contextual Commentary:

While standard reference literature (Beraldi 13; IFF 8) lists this print as a single state, a rare, unlettered working trial proof exists in the British Museum collection. The British Museum copy was officially registered on May 10, 1873, demonstrating that Feyen-Perrin completed engraving the copper plate at least two years prior to its commercial distribution. This specific impression features the full, crisp plate lettering added subsequently for the formal 1875 portfolio publication by Cadart, marking it as the definitive published edition.

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 46.8 x 31.2 cm
• Platemark: 23.9 x 15.8 cm
• Image borderline: 16.6 x 8.7 cm

Plate Lettering:

• Above the image: (left) “274.”
• Below the image: (left) “A. Feyen Perrin, del. et sc.”; (centre) “FEMME DES BOIS.”; (right) “A. Cadart, Edit. Imp. 56, B.ard Haussmann, Paris.”

References:

References:

• Beraldi 13 (Henri Beraldi, “Les Graveurs du Dix-Neuvième Siècle: DORÉ - GAVARD,” vol. VI, 1887, Paris, Librairie L. Conquet, p. 98, cat. no. 13)
• IFF 8 (Jean Adhémar & Jacques Lethève, “Inventaire du Fonds Français après 1800: Doré-Folk”, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département des Estampes, vol. 7, 1953, p. 544, cat. no. 8) — Available via Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Gallica): https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5489211f/f554.item
• British Museum: Museum Number 1873,0510.3354 — https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1873-0510-3354
• Kunsthalle Bremen: Inventory number 2022/5313 — https://bremen.museum-digital.de/object/19483  

Price & Shipping:

AU$229 (approximately US$161.61 / €144.95 / £121.29), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in acquiring this eye-catching etching of a mythological woman of the woods, please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. Secure payment is handled via PayPal invoice for a smooth, protected transaction.

Please note: To show the print's fine details as clearly as possible, the scan contrast has been digitally enhanced. Consequently, the image tones may not be a perfectly faithful representation of the subtleties of the print.

Auguste Feyen-Perrin, “Éclair”, 1868

Auguste Feyen-Perrin (also known as François-Nicolas-Augustin Feyen-Perrin) (1826-1888)

“Éclair”—lightning or a flash of lightning (not the French pastry eaten “in a flash”), 1868

Technical Details & Condition:

Etching and aquatint on fine laid paper. The plate is numbered 32 from first volume (1868) of the series “L’Illustration Nouvelle” published in Paris by Cadart & Luce (Alfred Cadart and his assistant Léandre Luce) (fl. 1867–1870/1). It was printed by Auguste Delâtre (1822–1907).

This is a richly inked and well-printed impression with generously wide margins. Aside from minor age-toning, the sheet is in excellent condition, free of tears, holes, folds, abrasions, or significant stains.

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 32.5 x 40.2 cm
• Platemark: 15.1 x 25 cm
• Image borderline: 12.9 x 20.4 cm

Plate Lettering:

• Lower left: “Feyen-Perrin sc.”
• Lower centre: “ÉCLAIR / CADART & LUCE, Editeurs,Rue N^ve des Mathurins,58.”
• Upper right: “32.”
• Lower right: “Imp.Delâtre,Paris.”

References:

• British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1870-0514-861
• Kunsthalle Bremen: https://bremen.museum-digital.de/object/19491  

Price & Shipping:

AU$229 (approximately US$158.23 / €137.25 / £119.72), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in acquiring this eye-catching etching of a female nude illuminated against darkness like a lightning flash, please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I will be happy to provide a PayPal invoice to facilitate a smooth and secure purchase.

This print has been sold 

Auguste Feyen-Perrin’s etching, “Winnowers of Cancale”, 1872

Auguste Feyen-Perrin (aka François Nicolas Augustin Feyen-Perrin) (1826–1888)

“Winnowers of Cancale” (aka “Vanneuses de Cancale”), 1872, artist’s proof before lettering for publication in Paris by Alfred Cadart (1828–1875) as plate numbered 169 to “L'Illustration Nouvelle par une Société de Peintres-Graveurs à l'Eau-Forte”, vol. 4, 1872 (see https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8527599w/f42.item).

Etching on tissue thin buff coloured laid paper with wide margins.

Size: (sheet) 39 x 27.6 cm; (plate) 23.8 x 16 cm; (inner image borderline) 20 x 11.9 cm.

Beraldi 8 (Henri Béraldi 1887, “Les graveurs du XIXe siècle: Guide de l'amateur d'estampes modernes: DORÉ - GAVARD”, vol. 6, Paris, Librairie L. Conquet, p. 98, cat. no. 8).

Condition: a richly inked and near flawless proof impression with generously wide margins in a near pristine condition with no tears, holes, abrasions, stains or foxing. There is a pencil inscription at the lower edge showing the artist’s name and the title of the print.

I am selling this exceptionally strong, proof-state, lifetime impression before lettering and numbering for publication, for the total cost of AU$257 (currently US$170.31/EUR155.44/GBP132.88 at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this marvellous etching capturing, in a freeze-framed endless iconic moment, the stoic work of rural women as they separate chaff from grain—interestingly, Philip Gilbert Hammerton (1876) in “Etching & Etchers” proposes that the artist “has much natural sympathy for the pathos of hard life, especially as it touches women” (p. 226)—please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Auguste Feyen-Perrin’s etching, “Death of Armar”, 1864

Auguste Feyen-Perrin (aka François Auguste Feyen-Perrin; François Nicolas Augustin Feyen-Perrin) (1826–1888)

“Morte d'Armar” (Death of Armar), 1864, plate 81, illustration to “Ossian”, published in Paris by Cadart & Luquet (fl.1863–67) and printed by Auguste Delâtre (1822–1907) for the Société des Aquafortistes’ second volume of prints, “Eaux-Fortes Modernes: Originales et Inédites” (September 1863–August 1864) with 60 plates numbered from “61” to “121”.

Note: the author of poem, “Ossian”, which this etching illustrates, caused a great deal of academic rumbling in the nineteenth century as the question arose: Was the translator, James Macpherson, the true author rather than simply a translation of what Macpherson describes—in the collected title of the poems—as "Fragments of ancient poetry, collected in the mountains of Scotland and translated from the German or Gallic language"?

Etching with aquatint on laid paper with watermark (“Aqua Fortistes”) and with the blind-stamp of the publisher (Cadart & Luquet) in the lower margin.

Size: (sheet) 44.1 x 28.4 cm; (plate) 31.8 x 23.8 cm; (image borderline) 27.5 x 18.9 cm

Inscribed on plate within the image borderline: (lower right) “A Feyen-Perrin” (slightly obscured by the background strokes).

Numbered on plate above the image borderline: (right corner) “81.”

Lettered on plate below the image borderline: (left) “Feyen-Perrin sculpt.”; (centre) “Armar se jette à la mer résolu de sauver Daura. Soudain un coup de vent fond du haut de la colline,/ Armar s'abime et ne reparait plus. (Ossian)./ Paris, Publié par A. CADART & LUQUET, Éditeurs, 79, Rue Richelieu.”; (right) Imp. Delâtre Rue St Jacques, 303, Paris.” 

Beraldi 1885 13 (Henri Beraldi 1885, “Les Graveurs du dix-neuvième siècle”, 12 vols plus supplement, Paris)

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Plate 81: nude male being subsumed by spirit, nude female figure above in shadows; illustration to Ossian”

(https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1342723&partId=1&searchText=Feyen_Perrin+Armar&page=1)

Condition: a richly inked and near faultless impression in near pristine condition for its age (i.e. there are no tears, holes, creases, abrasions, stains, foxing, or signs of handling).

I am selling this wonderfully mysterious and romantic etching showing Armar drowning in his birthday suit after having thrown himself into the sea to save Daura looking forlorn perched on a rocky ledge, for AU$194 (currently US$138.24/EUR120.82/GBP108.50 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 extraordinarily beautiful etching full of theatrical light and dramatic rhythms, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.