Félix BUHOT: Westminster Palace - 1884
SOLD
Etching and drypoint, 302 x 400 mm. Bourcard/Goodfriend 155, i/viii.
Working proof, of the 1st state (of 8) before many further work.
Very fine impression printed on white wove paper, bearing many annotations and sketches in pencil inside the main subject and in the symphonic margins. Buhot also signed this proof and added several annotations inside and under the subject: House of Commons and Clock Tower, Westminster Palace, 1er état imprimé le 8 février 1884, Ep. nature, Première épreuve du 1er état [1st state printed on 8 February 1884, « épreuve nature », 1st proof of the 1st state].
A few foxmarks, a few tiny handling creases. Generally in good condition. Small margins (sheet: 355 x 440 mm).
Working proofs with sketches or corrections in pencil by Buhot are very rare.
« I have started work on a series of etchings representing views of London, memories of our trip to England, » Buhot wrote to Pommée on 23 January, 1884 (quoted in Félix Buhot, peintre-graveur, 1847-1898, André Fontaine (dir.), p. 129). Following this, Buhot did indeed engrave a view of Westminster Palace, in a similar size and style, but in the end he gave up on the idea of a series. The two etchings were exhibited separately, the first one at the 1884 Salon, and the second one two years later only. They were considered to be his masterpieces in his lifetime.