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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2008.111
People
Charles-François Daubigny, French (Paris 1817 - 1878 Paris)
Title
Landscape after Ruisdael: Ray of Sunlight
Other Titles
Original Language Title: Coup de Soleil
Classification
Prints
Work Type
print
Date
1860
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/56832

Physical Descriptions

Technique
Etching
Dimensions
plate: 44.1 x 47.5 cm (17 3/8 x 18 11/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: Daubigny
  • collector's mark: recto, lower right, red ink, stamped: collector's mark of Alfred Lebrun (1830-1898/99), L. 140
  • inscription: lower left of plate margin, printer's ink, etching, signed, in artist's hand: etched signature: Daubigny

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

State
ib or ii/iii
Standard Reference Number
D., M. 93

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of James A. Bergquist, Boston, in honor of Seymour Slive
Accession Year
2008
Object Number
2008.111
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Commentary
Daubigny, among all the French etchers of the 19th century, was uniquely qualified to execute prints after the Dutch painter, Ruisdael, since he had modeled many aspects of his own landscape painting style after the earlier master and, in 1853, he had been awarded a 1st class medal at the French Salon for etching, a requirement for commissions from the Chalcographie of the Bibliotheque Nationale.

This plate, commissioned in 1855 from the Ruisdael painting "Le Coup de Soleil", in the collection of the Louvre since the late 18th century, was completed in 1860 and exhibited at the 1861 Salon. Although the Chalcographie published proof impressions prior to lettering the plate for the regular edition, this impression does not bear the Chalcographie seal. It is evidently one of the dozen or so preliminary proofs pulled by Delâtre, which according to Michel Melot, cataloguer of Daubigny's prints, were much more desirable than the Chalcographie proofs. Even earlier proofs, complete with the artist's signature, as here, were also pulled, some prior to extensive cross-hatching.

This impression is in perfect condition, which derives from an important French 19th-century collection, that of Alfred Lebrun, a banker and serious print amateur, who was the first cataloguer of the printed oeuvre of Millet. Lebrun would have had the inclination and would have been in a position to acquire the earliest proofs of a plate such as this.

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu