Gallery of prints for sale

Saturday, 13 July 2024

Alfred Dannequin’s etching, “Plateau de Belle-Croix, Forêt de Fontainebleau”, 1869

Alfred Dannequin (aka Alfred Joseph Dannequin) (?–1890)

“Plateau de Belle-Croix, Forêt de Fontainebleau”, 1869, a proof-state impression before lettering for publication in Paris by Cadart & Luce (Alfred Cadart [1828–1875]) and printing by Abraham Beillet (fl.1850–76/83) as an illustration to the art periodical, “L'Illustration Nouvelle.” See description of the lettered/published state offered by MAH (Musée d'art et d'histoire, Ville de Genève): https://www.mahmah.ch/collection/oeuvres/plateau-de-belle-croix-foret-de-fontainebleau/e-2015-0436-009.

Regarding this print and the artist, the Museum of New Zealand (Te Papa Tongarewa) offers the following marvellous insights: “In this highly atmospheric, romantic etching, evocative—probably unconsciously—of the beautiful precision and humility towards nature of Caspar David Friedrich, we see three ancient, leafless oaks standing out against a buttermilk sky. Glacial boulders surround a brackish pond and an unknown man, probably rendered deliberately small, poses with a staff at the centre. The scen[e] is located in the Forest of Fontainebleau, the favoured location of the Barbizon School of French realist painters including Corot and Daubigny. The printmaker Alfred Joseph Dannequin (d. 1890) was a little-known associate of the Barbizon School” (https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/37739).

Etching, drypoint and dot-roulette on tissue-thin washi paper, proof-state impression before lettering for publication with wide margins and pencil notations giving descriptive details about the print inscribed along the lower edge of the margin.

Size: (sheet) 27.2 x 40.8 cm; (plate) 18.2 x 23.6 cm; (image borderline) 15 x 23 cm.

Beraldi 2 (Henri Béraldi 1886, “Les Graveurs du XIXe Siècle: Guide de l'Amateur d'Estampes Modernes: CHERRIER–DIEN”, vol. V, Paris, Librairie L. Conquet, p. 89, cat. no. 2 of 4 titles listed).

Condition: a richly inked faultless proof-state impression with generously wide margins. The sheet is in a near pristine condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, significant stains or foxing but there is a pencil inscribed notation from a previous collection giving the critical details about the print.

I am selling this exceptionally rare, proof-state impression before lettering with the title and publication details, for AU$281 in total (currently/approximately US$190.69/EUR174.79/GBP146.81 at the time of posting this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries. Note that payment is in Australian dollars (AU$281) as this is my currency.

If you are interested in purchasing this beautifully moody twilight scene showing not only a figure resting on a cane near a pond in the Fontainebleau Forest—a forest sixty kilometres southeast of Paris that was a favourite painting location for the Barbizon School of artists—but, more interesting to me, also showing some of the sparkle of the brilliantly white sand—arguably the purest in the world and used (I understand) by the Murano glassworks—and rocky bars of the region (see https://www.mindat.org/loc-1698.html), please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.










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