31. Félix Buhot
1847-1898
La Fête Nationale au Boulevard Clichy (National Holiday on the Boulevard Clichy)

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La Fête Nationale

La Fête Nationale au Boulevard Clichy (National Holiday on the Boulevard Clichy)

Etching, drypoint and aquatint, 1878, 313 x 234 mm., Bourcard/Goodfriend 127 v/viii. A fine, rich impression of this working state, before the reworking and added aquatint in the symphonic margins, on laid paper with good margins; some partial skinning verso at the lower right corner not affecting the front. The holiday, one will notice from the inscription, is June 30, not July 14, for this is before Bastille Day was made the official French national holiday. The symphonic margins, first developed by Buhot in the early states of his book illustrations, are here fully put to use, being at once a decorative border and a commentary on the main subject. In essence, the marginal sketches are records of simultaneity, events occurring at the same time and place as the main subject, but not visible there because of the point and angle of view. The device, which would be preposterous in a painting (and Buhot never used it in an oil painting), is both logical and effective in printmaking.