Details — Click to read
Five progress proofs on different papers. All very fine impressions. The two impressions of the final state signed in pencil on the tab. One of the two impressions of the final state retouched in pencil, the other printed with plate tone.
The 1st, 2nd and 3rd states are unique, Hausberg recorded only one known proof each. 4th and final state: two of around 12 impressions.
Born and educated in France, Roussel was largely a self-taught artist. He studied the techniques of Old Masters in detail and combined them with the subject matter of modern urban life in an eclectic style [1].
Finding the artistic climate in London more favourable than Paris, Roussel moved to England in 1878, quickly establishing a reputation and making a living as a portrait painter.
After viewing a watercolour by Roussel displayed at the Dowdeswell Gallery in 1885, Whistler requested to meet the younger artist, who was also his neighbour in Chelsea. The lifelong friendship that ensued resulted in Whistler encouraging his friend to pursue the techniques of etching and drypoint as well as influencing his style and choice of subject matter. As we can see in the present works, Roussel was influenced by Whistler in adopting the latter’s new practice of trimming the print to the platemark, leaving only a small tab of paper at the bottom edge. The present works represent one of the earliest known etchings by Roussel. As suggested by the faint inscription in the plate 24 Xbre 87, the subject was presumably drawn “from nature” on Christmas Eve 1887 (Hausberg, p. 40).
[1] R. Anderson, Roussel, Theodore (Casimir), Grove Art Online, 2003, p.1.
