Charles Courtry’s etching with drypoint, “Les Glaneuses”, 1876, after Millet

Charles Courtry (aka Charles Jean Louis Courtry) (1846–1897)

“Les Glaneuses” (Beraldi title) (aka “The Gleaners”), 1876, after Jean François Millet (1814–1875), plate 54 from the series, “Album Boetzel”.

Etching and drypoint with pale plate tone on fine laid paper.

Size: (sheet) 27.8 x 18.8 cm; (plate [faint]) 21.5 x 16.6 cm; (image borderline) 18.1 x 14.1 cm.

Numbered in plate above the image borderline: (right) “54”.

Inscribed in plate below the image borderline: (left) “J F MILLET Pinx”; (right) “CH. COURTRY. SC.”

Beraldi 23 (Henri Beraldi 1886, “Les Graveurs du XIXe Siècle: Cherrier–Dien”, vol. 5, Paris, Librairie L. Conquet, p. 63, cat. no. 23); IFF 75 (Inventaire du Fonds Français: Bibliothèque Nationale, Département des Estampes).

The British Museum offers the following description of this print: “The gleaners, after Millet; two peasant women picking up the grain in the foreground, another standing at right, men loading a cart with hay in the background; plate No 54 in the Album Boetzel year 6, 1876” (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1876-1111-564).

What I find interesting about Courtry’s adaptation of Millet’s famous etching, “The Gleaners”, c.1855–56 (see https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/370558), is not just the change in the portrayed spatial depth, with the haystacks in Coutry’s etching having been moved forward, but that Courtry has also captured one of the truly subtle attributes of Millet’s approach to drawing. By this I mean that instead of creating flowing curves when drawing outlines and laying down hatching strokes, Courtry, like Millet, creates the illusion of curves out of a sequence of straight lines. To me this is a hallmark of a great artist who understands that the visual strength in a curve is underpinned by straight lines.

Condition: a richly inked and well-printed impression. Beyond a few marks at upper left (recto) and a stain at upper right (verso), the sheet is in an excellent condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions or significant stains.

I am selling this very strong etching after Millet’s famous, even iconic, etching, “The Gleaners” (c.1855–56), for the total cost of AU$239 (currently US$155.97/EUR144.59/GBP123.52 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

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