Léo Drouyn's etching, “Bassin d’Arcachon”, 1860

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

“Bassin d’Arcachon”, 1860, printed by Sarazin (aka Sarasin) (fl.c.1846–1880) and published in “L’Artiste”—a weekly illustrated Art review published in Paris from 1831 to 1904.

Note: Albert Quantin (1850–1930) republished (and printed) this plate with the original lettered text and publication details lightly erased and amended with a crude inscription at the lower right corner: “Imp. A. Quantin”. Note also that one internet site attributes this etching to Léo Drouyn’s son, Jean Léo-Drouyn (1872–1940), but I have no information to corroborate whether this is true. Nevertheless, I am mindful that the dates that Sarazin (the printer) flourished would mean that Jean Léo-Drouyn would need to have executed this plate when he was only eight years old … unlikely.

Etching with dot roulette printed in bistre coloured ink with light plate tone on chine-collé (China) on wove paper trimmed with a small margin (approx. 7 mm.) around the platemark and laid onto a sheet of heavy wove paper (archival Dutch Etch) to create a secondary/false margin, backed with a support sheet.

Size: (outer support sheet) 30 x 37.5 cm.; (trimmed sheet) 9.3 x 22.8 cm.; (plate) 7.8 x 21.2 cm.; (chine- collé) 7.1 x 20.4 cm.; (image borderline) 6.5 x 19.9 cm.

Signed on plate within the image borderline: (upper left corner) “Leo Drouyn”.

Lettered on plate outside the image borderline: (upper centre) “L’ARTISTE”; (lower left) “Leo Drouyn inv, et sculp.”; (lower centre) “BASSIN D’ARCACHON”; (lower right) “Imp. Sarazin. r. Git le Cœur, 8, Paris.”

Condition: well-printed strong impression with restored abrasion to the upper right corner of the chine- collé and a few handling marks, trimmed with a small margin around the platemark and laid upon a larger sheet of archival paper.

I am selling this vast and moody view of Arcachon Bay (France) that to my eyes seems to be executed outdoors to capture the intimate details of the landscape in the manner of the Barbizon School, for the total cost of AU$223 (currently US$152.96/EUR136.88/GBP117.76 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world (but not, of course, any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries).

If you are interested in purchasing this delicately executed 19th century etching—note the detail in the rendering of the figures on the beach and the close observation of the bungalow construction (mindful that the artist was an architect), 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