Charles Jacque’s etching, “Une Bourrasque”

Charles Jacque (aka Charles Émile Jacque) (1813–94)

“Une Bourrasque” [a flurry/one gust], 1846

Etching on chine-collé on wove white paper

Size: (sheet) 19.8 x 24.6 cm; (plate) 12.3 x 16.8 cm; (image borderline) 7.5 x 11.5 cm

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Windswept landscape with three figures walking towards a shed at left; on the right a pig stands by a pond.” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3359784&partId=1&searchText=Jacque+Une+Bourrasque&people=119978&page=1)

Inscribed on the plate with the artist’s signature (upper right corner) and lettered below the image borderline (lower right) “37”

Guiffrey (Guiffrey, J-J, L'Oeuvre de Charles Jacque: catalogue de ses eaux-fortes et pointes sèches, Paris, Mlle Lemaire, Éditeur, 1866) 1866 110; IFF (Inventaire du Fonds Français: Bibliothèque Nationale, Département des Estampes, Paris, 1930) 166

Condition: crisp and well-printed impression with wide margins in near pristine condition.

I am selling this superbly executed etching from one of the leading luminaries of the Barbizon movement for a total cost of AU$119 (currently US$90.01/EUR81.57/GBP69.56 at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this freely executed etching by Jacque, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This superb etching by Jacque has the freshness and vitality of line that are the hallmarks of great masters like Rembrandt. What this print captures is the impression of “real” rural life and it communicates this expression of genuine experience and observation through the spontaneity and passion of the marks depicting the three wind-blustered figures heading to shelter from a looming storm.

Although I have little doubt that Jacque initially drew this image very quickly while outdoors, I do not believe that the image was complete entirely outdoors. Indeed, close examination of the very controlled and calculated strokes that Jacque uses to depict the barn door to which the tree figures are heading seem—at least to my eyes—more like marks made in the calm of his studio. Similarly, I believe that Jacque has added details like the flock of migrating birds while “finishing” the image in the studio. He may have seen such a flight pattern while outdoors, but this pattern seems so well planned and integrated into the design of the image that it a vital part of the composition. Moreover, the rendering of the birds themselves is very considered suggesting that they were not drawn quickly. Note, for instance, that the closer birds have an “extra” stroke at the end of their wings to denote their spatial proximity while the further away birds are treated more schematically as they recede into the distance. 

Charles Jacque's etching, “Buveurs”

Charles Jacque (aka Charles Émile Jacque) (1813–94)

“Buveurs” [Drinkers], 1853, printed by Auguste Delâtre (1822–1907) (Note that the date that I have ascribed to this print is based upon the year [1853] that the printer, Delâtre, resided at the address inscribedn the plate.)

Etching on chine-collé on thick wove paper

Size: (sheet) 15.2 x 14.1 cm; (plate) 9.2 x 9.5 cm

Inscribed in the plate (lower left) “1”; (lower centre) “Imp Aug Delâtre Rue de la Bucherie 6” with the artist’s signature (lower-right), 9.1 x 9.4 cm (plate); 15.1 x 14.2 cm (sheet)

Condition: richly inked and crisp impression with margins in pristine condition.

I am selling this darkly glowing print with strong theatrical lighting that would make even Caravaggio proud for $148 AUD (currently US$111.95/EUR101.45/GBP86.51 at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this original Jacque etching referencing the old masters, 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

At first glance, I suspect that many viewers see overtones of Caravaggio in this fine etching by Jacque—disregarding for the moment that Caravaggio never made an etching or print of any kind and, as there are no extant Caravaggio drawings, he may never have drawn at all! Certainly, I see a strong connection. What makes me see a link between this scene of three folk drinking and Caravaggio’s mature style of painting is all about the use of theatrical lighting which artists who like Italian terms call “chiaroscuro.”

After the initial spike of recognition about the similarities of lighting employed by these artists, closer examination shows that the lighting effect used by Jacque is not the same as that used by Caravaggio. Jacque’s approach to chiaroscuro lighting is about enclosing the scene with darkness as a contained field of view wherein the viewer is somewhat conceptually excluded, whereas Caravaggio’s approach is about expanding the field of view beyond the scene portrayed and perhaps even into the viewer’s space.

In short, unlike Jacque's theatrical arrangement of light and shade, Caravaggio’s use of chiaroscuro is to invite the viewer into the pictorial depths of his scenes by use of visual devices such as foreshortened arms and similar features that reach towards the viewer and lighting that creates pathways encouraging the view to feel a part of what is presented.

Charles Jacque’s etching, “Le Printemps”

Charles Jacque (aka Charles Émile Jacque) (1813–94)

“Le Printemps” [spring], 1864, printed by Sarazin (1846–80; fl. c.) from a series of twenty-four related prints

Etching and roulette on chine-collé on thick wove white paper

Size: (sheet) 43.5 x 30.8 cm; (plate) 20.4 x 15.4 cm; (image) 16.1 x 11.5 cm

Inscribed on the plate below the image borderline: (lower left) “CH. JACQUE INV. SC” / “No.3-3”; (lower centre) “LE PRINTEMPS”; (lower right) “IMP. SARAZIN PARIS”

State iii (of iv) (before the head of the girl was redone and the addition of a tree branch above the heads of the couple)

Guiffrey (Guiffrey, J-J, L'Oeuvre de Charles Jacque: catalogue de ses eaux-fortes et pointes sèches, Paris, Mlle Lemaire, Éditeur, 1866) 179 (undescribed state, between II and III?) (; IFF (Inventaire du Fonds Français: Bibliothèque Nationale, Département des Estampes, Paris, 1930) 282

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Family of peasants standing against a fence and watching a hen and her chicks; at their feet, a dog barks at the birds.” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3501791&partId=1&searchText=charles+Jacque+Le+Printemps&page=1)

Condition: crisp and well-printed delicate impression with wide margins (as published). The sheet is in excellent condition for its age (i.e. no stains, holes, tears, folds or foxing) but there is light waviness and a dot of wear on the male figure's trousers.

I am selling this superbly executed etching from one of the leading luminaries of the Barbizon movement for a total cost of [...] including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this exquisite etching displaying technical skills that only a master possesses, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print is no longer available

Although Jacque was far from being a young man when executed this etching, the image with all its fine detail and romanticism—perhaps even superfluous detail and cloying romanticism—exemplifies an early phase in the artist’s artistic development. In his mature works, Jacque moved to a more personal style of emphatic and seemingly unconstrained free strokes.

Beyond the amazing control of the etching needle (and roulette) that this print showcases, especially with regard to capturing the luminous effect of mottled light filtering through trees, the portrayed chickens that the young man points towards were an important part of Jacque’s life. Not only did he breed chickens, but he also wrote a book about the technical issues involved in their breeding which, according to FL Leipnik (1924) in “A History of French Etching”, “is still quoted as an authority” (p. 76).

Richard Collin’s engraving after Sandrart of the satyr, Marsyas

Richard Collin (aka Richardus Colins; Richard Collirus) (1627–97 [after]) after the design by Jacob von Sandrart (1630–1708)

“Marsiyas” [Marsyas], 1679, from Joachim von Sandrart’s (1606–88) “L'Academia Todesca della Architectura, Scultura & Pittura: Oder Teutsche Academie der Edlen Bau-Bild- und Mahlerey-Künste” (better known by the shorter title: “Teutsche Academie”) (1675). This impression is from the 1683 edition,  “Academia nobilissimae artis pictoriae Nürnberg” [Christian Sigismund Froberger].

Engraving on laid paper

Size: (sheet) 37.5 x 23.5 cm; (plate) 34.5 x 21.7 cm

Inscribed: (upper left) “MARSIYAS”; (lower left) ”I. De Sandrart”; (upper right) “b” / “*” [three-line asterisk]; (lower right) “R. Collin Calcogr. Reg. sculps. Bruxellae”.

The table notation “b” signifies that this impression is from the 1683 edition

The British Museum offers the following information about Sandrart’s “Teutsche Academie”:

“A series of engravings, etchings, and woodcuts, illustrating Joachim von Sandrart's publication on the history of art, mostly after designs by the author, featuring architecture, sculpture, and paintings, executed by Jacob von Sandrart, Karl Gustav Amling, Richard Collin, Georg Christoph Eimmart the Younger, Johann Franck(h), Bartholomeus II Kilian, Philipp Kilian (a portrait of Joachim von Sandrart, follwing title-page), Melchior Küsel, Johann Jacob von Sandrart, Johann Jacob Thourneysen, Johann Georg Waldreich, Georg Andreas Wolfgang and some anonymous plates, with German letterpress text, in a blind-stamped pigskin binding with clasps, printed by Johann-Philipp Miltenberger, published in Nuremberg by Jacob von Sandrart and in Frankfurt am Main by Matthäus Merian. 1675”

(http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3139504&partId=1&searchText=sandrart+Richard+Collin+&page=1)

Condition: crisp and delicate impression with small margins in excellent condition for its age (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, foxing or stains).

I am selling this engraving of the highest order of skill and in superb condition from the 17th century for a total cost of AU$159 (currently US$118.89/EUR106.70/GBP90.55 at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this superb engraving of the mythological figure, the satyr Marsyas who was flayed as an unfortunate outcome to a completion that he had with Apollo, 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

Although the original 1675 publication of Joachim von Sandrart’s “Teutsche Academie” included an engraving of the “Statue of Marsyas” from the Giustiniani collection, the image was revised in 1679 with a fresh plate. This impression is from the 1679 recut plate engraved by Richard Collin and based on a drawing (now in Dresden’s Mazzetti di Pietralata) by Jacob von Sandrart.

From what I am able to determine, there were two editions of this print. The first is “Sculpturae veteris admiranda Nürnberg” [Froberger] 1680. This edition is identified by the plate letter “m” printed by letterpress at the top right. The second edition featuring this impression is identified by the plate letter “b” at the top right and is “Academia nobilissimae artis pictoriae Nürnberg” [Christian Sigismund Froberger] 1683.

Online copies of all the editions are available at Sandrart.net, but the following link will take you to the specific page in the 1683 edition featuring this print: http://la.sandrart.net/text/347

Ferdinand Gaillard’s portrait, “Monseigneur de Ségur”

Ferdinand Gaillard (aka Claude Ferdinand Gaillard) (1834-87)

“Monseigneur de Ségur” (Louis-Gaston de Segur), c1880

Etching on cream wove paper

An early proof before lettering

Size: (sheet) 26.5 x 22.8 cm; (plate) 12.6 x 10.3 cm

Condition: rich proof impression with wide margins in near pristine condition—there is a tiny mark on the left and lower margin.

I am selling this powerfully confident original etching by a master from the 19^th century for a total cost of [deleted] including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this amazing portrait where the artist has engaged in fully examining each bump on the Monseigneur’s face—an approach known as haptic in the sense that the artist portrays surfaces and forms like a blind person might “feel” them—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

For those who like to compare portraits of the same sitter by two different artists, this pair of images is revealing (the print on the right is discussed in the previous post). The left image, by Gaillard, shows the strength and confidence of a master draughtsman. By this I mean that each stroke is there for a reason. Gillard’s approach is what is commonly termed “haptic.” It is an approach driven for the artist’s interest in finding visual equivalents for expressing surfaces and forms like a blind person might “feel” the subject. As a consequence of this approach, each bump in Monseigneur’s face is like a battlefield of pits and bumps.

By comparison, the right image, by Burney— a masterly etched copy of Gaillard’s original painting—recreates in line the critical features that Burney observed in Gaillard’s painting. Although I would not suggest, even for an instant, that Burney’s portrait is not a psychological portrayal of the Monseigneur; after all, it is a hauntingly powerful study of a man with a commanding presence. Nevertheless, Gaillard’s portrait is fundamentally about portraying the facture and tone of Gaillard’s painted portrait.

In short, the essential differences of approach separating these two portraits is about:

-  Gaillard’s sensuous recreation of Monseigneur’s face by “finding” it using marks replicating the effects of physical touch, and

-  Burney’s mimetic replication of what he observed in the original painting of the Monseigneur.

Eugène Burney’s etching, “Portrait de Monseigneur de Ségur”, after Ferdinand Gaillard

Eugène Burney (aka François Eugène Burney) (1845–1907)

“Portrait de Monseigneur de Ségur” (Louis-Gaston de Segur), 1882, after a painting by Ferdinand Gaillard (1834-87), printed by Alfred Salmon (1863–1894; fl.)

Etching on fine cream laid paper

Size: (sheet) 41.6 x 29.4 cm; (plate) 32.9 x 23.5 cm; (image) 29.7 x 21.5 cm

Lettered below the image edge: (lower left) "Claude Ferdinand Gaillard pinx / L’Art"; (lower centre) “PORTRAIT DE MONSEIGNEUR DE SÉGUR”; (lower right) "E. Burney, sc. / Imp. A. Salmon."

The British Museum offers the following information about this print:

“Portrait of Louis Gaston de Ségur, half-length to front, hands folded, against a dark background; published in "L'Art"

(http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3719123&partId=1&searchText=E.+Burney+&page=1)

Condition: superb well-inked and well-printed impression in near pristine condition—there is a tiny mark towards the top-left of the margin.

I am selling this luminous print in superb condition that reflects the highest order of technical skill for a total cost of [deleted] including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this strong image of a man clenching his fist in determination—perhaps in dealing with his debilitating blindness—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

The British Museum offers the following information about Monseigneur de Ségur:

“Priest; envoy to Rome but had to return to France after becoming blind, 1856, and devoted his life to charity; son of novelist Sophie Rostopchine, Countess of Ségur.”

(http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=214686)

Although I may be wrong, the clenched fist of Louis-Gaston de Segur (1820–81) in this portrait is not an insignificant detail. For me, knowing that the Monseigneur had become blind twenty-six years earlier, suggests that it is a symbol of this strong-willed person's resolute battle with his affliction.

David Kandel’s “View of Lüneburg” (Latin edition), 1500

David Kandel (1520/25–1592/96)

“View of Lüneburg”, c.1550, from a set of twenty-two designs by David Kandel and cut by Monogrammist CS (fl.c.1540–1560) and printed by Heinrich Petri (1527–77; fl. c.).. This impression is from the Latin edition of Sebastian Münster’s (1488–1552) “Cosmographia”, showing a panoramic view of Lüneburg, published in 1568/1592. 

Woodcut and letterpress on full double-sided sheet as published.

Size: (sheet) 31.5 x 40.2 cm

Signed with Kandel's monogram (lower left) and with monogram “CS” (lower righ)t.

Lettered throughout with location names and letters corresponding to the legend above.

Letterpress title above the woodcut: “De Germania Liber III. / Civitas Lunaeburgensis, quam verius hoc tempore Salinaeburgensem appellare posses.” Pages numbered 730 and 731.

Below a letterpress genealogy of the dukes of Lüneburg.

The British Museum offer the following description of this print:

“View of Lüneburg; with putti among clouds in sky holding the coats-of-arms and a tablet bearing the name of the town; on verso three woodcuts by an anonymous master; one with the arms of Lüneburg; another with a male figure in antique armour standing on a column and holding a banner with a crescent moon; and a third showing salt production; illustrations to the Latin edition of Sebastian Münster, 'Cosmographia', Basle: Heinrich Petri, 1552.” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1536570&partId=1&searchText=Sebastian+Munster+luneburg&page=1)

Hollstein 10j; Nagler 1858-79 II.1173.11; Bartsch IX.393.3

Condition: very well printed with very little wear to the printing block suggesting that this is an early printing. The sheet is in an extremely rare near pristine condition with virtually no faults beyond the usual indelicate joining of the two pages (verso).

I am selling this rare woodcut print in superb condition from the 16th century for the total cost of AU$272 (currently US$182.17/EUR166.04/GBP142.68 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 historically significant early woodcut sheet, 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

The curator of the British Museum offers the following account of Sebastian Munster's “Cosmographia”:

“From a set of twenty-two designs supplied by Kandel for the enlarged edition of the 'Cosmographia', which appeared in Basle in 1550 and contained around 900 illustrations and 40 maps. Münster's 'Cosmographia' had first been published in 1544.” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1535335&partId=1&searchText=1850,1014.972&page=1) 

Francis Sansom's “Tussilago Petasites” (aka. Butter-burr) (1777–78)

Francis Sansom (1780–1810)

“Tussilago Petasites” (aka. Butter-burr) (1777–78), published in the first edition (approximately 300 copies) of William Curtis’ (1746–99) “Flora Londinensis, or, Plates and descriptions of such plants as grow wild in the environs of London: with their places of growth, and times of flowering, their several names according to Linnæus and other authors: with a particular description of each plant in Latin and English : to which are added, their several uses in medicine, agriculture, rural economy and other arts”, 1777, Curtis, Vol. 2: t. 59 [134].

Engraving on wove paper with hand colouring in watercolour (as published in "Flora Londinensis”)

Size: (sheet) 47 x 28.9 cm; (plate) 44.4 x 26.3 cm

See description of this print at: http://plantillustrations.org/illustration.php?id_illustration=163837&mobile=0

Condition: extremely rare (only 300 copies), crisp impression with superb hand-colouring and margins as published. The sheet is in excellent condition for its age with only minor signs of age toning at the edges. There is an ink stamp verso from the library which deacquisitioned the print.

I am selling this extraordinary engraving of the utmost rarity (only 300 copies exist) hand-coloured by a true master of watercolour for first edition (1777) of Curtis’ “Flora Londinensis” for a total cost of AU$189 (currently US$140.54/EUR126.42/GBP104.31at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this magnificent botanical engraving of the highest order of skill, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

As most racy gentlemen would know, this plant is useful in the treatment of gonorrhoea. (As I am not a racy gentleman I cannot tell you how it is useful.) From my research, Rosenberg describes his use of it for an “extremely violent gonorrhoea, penis swollen, painful, emission of urine extremely painful, mixed with blood, patient feverish and restless” and offers the following account:

“Tuss. p. [Tussilago petasites] was given in water.

There was a great aggravation of all symptoms in thirty-six hours.

The remedy was discontinued and marked amelioration followed.

Resumed again, much diluted, rapid cure followed.

The remedy was used externally as well in this case.” (see http://www.homeopathycenter.org/remedy/tussilago-petasites)