Léo Drouyn’s etching, “The Pool”, 1857

Léo Drouyn (aka François Joseph Léo Drouyn) (1816–1896)

“The Pool”, 1857, presumably printed by Auguste Delâtre (1822–1907)

Etching on wove paper with plate tone

Size: (sheet) 12.8 x 11.9 cm; (plate) 8.6 x 8.8 cm; (image borderline) 7.6 x 6.9 cm

Inscribed within the image borderline: (upper left) “Leo Drougn 1857 … [?]

Inscribed below the image borderline; (left and right) partially erased, undecipherable text

Condition: crisp and well printed impression in pristine condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, abrasions, stains, age-toning, handling marks or foxing) with small margins.

I am selling this tiny etching drawn and with infinite care by one of followers of Victor Hugo and the Romantic movement with links to the Barbizon School of artists for a total cost of AU$124 (currently US$95.06/EUR80.59/GBP71.1 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this wonderfully crafted etching that glows with light and life, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

This is a very small print. Despite its diminutive size, the portrayed scene—to my eyes echoing a similar image listed earlier of cattle fording a stream by Paul Huet—has the breadth of vision of a grand landscape. Perhaps I should not be surprised by the fineness of the etching or the projected scale of this miniature gem as it is the natural outcome of the artist’s background as an architect, archaeologist, scientist, painter and engraver. Indeed, Drouyn’s background is firmly grounded on so many skills involving creative invention that I see him as a true Renaissance man who just happened to live in the 19^th century. This tagging of Drouyn as a Renaissance man is not without significance as he was also fascinated by the distant past, even as far back as the Middle Ages.