29. Félix Buhot
1847-1898
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<I>L’Illustration Nouvelle 1877</I>

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Etching, with drypoint, aquatint etc., 1877, 347 x 277 mm. Bourcard/Goodfriend 124 v/v. Provenance: van Ryssel (not in Lugt). A fine proof impression, before the plate margins were cleaned, of the final and published state, on laid paper with large margins, signed in brown ink and dedicated to M. van Ryssel; the inscription slightly faded, minor foxing in the paper. The complex imagery is a virtual allegory of printmaking in the late 19th century, for years dominated by reproductive engraving. Here the burin, the engraver's tool, is taken off by an old hearse, labeled 1876, and drawn by a winged horse, while its spirit is taken upwards to its just reward in heaven. A modern locomotive, called L'Illustration Nouvelle and dated 1877 announces the triumphant arrival of original etching.