"Avenue de Boulogne, Pres de La Porte D'Auteuil" by Maxime Lalanne, Fr., (1827-1886)

Part of the series "Souvenirs Artistique du Siege de Paris"

Etching, 1879-81, 6-5/16 x 9-3/8, a proof before all letters, signed in the plate, on thick warm white wove paper with large margins, pencil notations and an old price of $1.50 in blue ink in lower right corner, very faint water stain right margin. Maxime Lalanne's landmark book A Treatise on Etching, paved the way for theFrench Etching Revival in the mid-nineteenth century which lead to the American Etching Revival shortly thereafter. Lalanne's book influenced the course of American printmaking in a grand way. This series of etchings he executed documenting the ravages of the Franco Prussian War and Seige of Paris are marvels of precise observation, rendering, and controlled etching to vary the weight of line. This meticulous control allowed Lalanne to achieve a sense of distance and atmosphere using only line, with no inky manipulations. This was quite a virtuostic feat, but Lalanne's significance and the subtle beauty of his work is neglected today.