34. Jules de Bruycker
(1870-1945)
Théâtre (Ténor), the large plate

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de Bruycker: Théâtre (Ténor)

Théâtre (Ténor), the large plate

Etching, 1907, 278 x 158 mm., LeRoy 16, signed in pencil. De Bruycker, for those who have not yet made his acquaintance, was the natural successor of Ensor, Rops and a string of Belgian artists going back to Brueghel and Bosch, much of whose art was essentially sardonic, employing purposeful exaggeration and surrealistic images. While there is a local (the city of Ghent) preoccupation in de Bruycker’s work and a good deal of social commentary, the “weirdness” of his images places him squarely in that tradition. His view of the theater uses two-thirds of the plate for the hulking backs of the audience in the balcony. The contrast with the distant stage, the skinny figure on it and the tiny hand emerging from the prompter’s box clearly tells us who is in charge here. Fine impression in brown-black ink on simili-japon with good but unevenly cut margins. De Bruycker’s etchings appear occasionally on the market, but rarely the same one twice.

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