1. Félix Buhot
(1847-1898)

La Ronde de Nuit (The Night Patrol)

(click on image to print)
Buhot, La Ronde de Nuit

La Ronde de Nuit (The Night Patrol)

Etching, drypoint, aquatint, roulette and stop-out, 1878, Bourcard/Goodfriend 70 ii/ii, 129 x 142 mm. Very fine, dark impression on laid paper with small margins, more clean-wiped than usual and thus showing more detail. On a small scale, this print shows a great deal of what Buhot is all about. A night scene, with a turbulent sky, in or near his native town of Valognes, rain and an umbrella, a lantern and reflected light on puddles in the road and on ducks or geese hovering in the foreground, the gateposts and façade of an old mansion, a remnant of better days in the town, all this is where Buhot comes from, geographically, sociologically and psychologically. One may add to this subject matter the complexity of techniques lavished on a small plate to bring forth this scene, and we then have something of a picture of the artist, one that differentiates him from just about every other print maker in history. According to Bourcard, there were only about twenty impressions taken before the plate was cancelled. The print is, accordingly, quite rare.