?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
CHARLES MERYON Le Petit Pont.
Etching and drypoint, 1850. 244x185 mm; 9 1/2x7 1/4 inches, full margins. Fifth state (of 9), with part of the right border line descending into the lower margin and before the publication in L'artisque. A superb, richly-inked and early impression with very strong contrasts.
Provenance: Unidentified collector, orange ink stamp of a centaur lower right (not in Lugt). Schneiderman 20.
With— Five reproduction prints after Meryon's etchings.
Meryon (1821-1868) was an important mid-19th century French printmaker; he was born in Paris and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts. Meryon was known for his intricately detailed etchings, representing many of the old Parisian neighborhoods and Gothic architecture that were demolished under Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann's massive urban renewal program. His works often combined elements of fantasy and reality to create a unique vision of the city.
Meryon had a difficult life, suffering from mental illness and financial issues. He was eventually committed to a mental institution in 1868. While largely forgotten by collectors during the late 19th century, his work nevertheless influenced countless printmakers well into the early 20th century and his etchings were subsequently sought after and widely collected to this day.
