Etching Ministère de la Marine (Fictions et Voeux) by Charles Meryon, 1865

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Charles Meryon (Paris 1821 - Charenton-le-Pont 1868) was a French painter and engraver. His childhood was marked by a condition of poverty that will lead him to seek social revenge in the navy, after a career as an officer in 1848 he devoted himself to engraving thanks to the proximity of the etcher Eugène Bléry. His countless travels were the source of inspiration for his prints, and he mainly produced architectures, marine scenes, ornithological subjects and some portraits. His works are intense but poetic, thanks to the use of a very strong chiaroscuro, they are pervaded by a dramatic vein that has earned the admiration of the poet Charles Baudelaire who collected them. This is table n 176, as engraved in the upper right, published in the third year (September 1, 1864 - August 1, 1865) of the publication promoted by the Société des Aquafortistes and based on an invention of Auguste Delatre. Place de la Concorde is depicted, with the building that housed the Ministry of the Navy on the right and the Egyptian obelisk of Luxor in the background, among the various buildings in the background. Through strong and decisive chiaroscuro contrasts we see the square crowded with soldiers both on foot and on horseback, some with their eyes turned towards the sky furrowed by fantastic sea creatures, chariots, birds and ships flying towards the navy building. The presence of such fantastic elements was a condition imposed by the author to the client, the Ministry of the Navy, through his friend Jules Niel. The print is the last one engraved with a Parisian subject. In the lower margin beyond the image, monogram of the artist and "Meryon sculp.", "Imp. Delâtre, Rue St Jacques, 303, Paris" and "Publié par CADART & LUQUET, Éditeurs , 79 Rue Richelieu". In the white margin oval dry stamp: "Cadart Luquet/Editeurs/76RRichelieu". Excellent impression printed in black ink on thick ivory paper. Very good condition except for a few tears in the wide white margins. Watermark: "Aqua-Fortistes". Bibliography: Delteil-Wright, Catalogue raisonné of the etchings of Charles Meryon, n 45.

ID: 11318-1611591964-14525