The Moles (Les Taupes)

1854

Félix Bracquemond

Associated Names
Félix Bracquemond

Artist, French, 1833 - 1914

Pierron, French, active 1849-1866

Printer

The image shows a black and white etching featuring a landscape with a prominent bare, twisted tree with small animals hanging from its branches. The horizon is low in the composition with a vast sky and other trees and shrubbery in the distance. Fine lines create texture and depth, especially in the tree branches, animal fur, foliage, and clouds. The color palette is monochrome, enhancing the somber tone. Close to us, plants and text can be seen in the bottom left corner. The landscape slopes upward, with more foliage and distant tree canopies against the sky in the background.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching with stipple on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

  • Dimensions

    plate: 27.2 × 20 cm (10 11/16 × 7 7/8 in.)
    sheet: 38.4 × 28.6 cm (15 1/8 × 11 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1975.33.1

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Beraldi, no. 134, State iii/iv

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Galerie Documents, Paris)

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2009

  • The Darker Side of Light: Arts of Privacy, 1850-1900, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; NGA; Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, 2009 - 2010

Bibliography

1885

  • Beraldi, Henri. Les graveurs du XIXe siecle, guide de l'amateur d'estampes modernes. 12 vols. Paris, 1885-1892: Henri. Les graveurs du XIXe siecle, guide de l'amateur d'estampes modernes. 12 vols. Paris: Librairie L. Conquet, 1885-1892.

1987

  • Bouillon, Jean-Paul. Félix Bracquemond, Le Réalisme Absolu: oeuvre gravé 1849-1859, catalogue raisonné, Geneva: Skira, 1987.

Inscriptions

recto: in plate, in image, at upper right: Bracquemond [underlined] / inv & fec; in plate, in image, at lower left on stone: 1854 [underlined] / Aux ramilles du peuplier / Danse la taupe suspendue, / Et vers la ferme de Taupier / Va réclamer la somme due.; in plate, below image, at right: Imp Pierron rue de Montfaucon No. 1; at upper right, in graphite, in later hand: B.134 / III; at lower left, in graphite, in later hand: H. B. 134 - Les Taupes, 3me état; verso: at bottom right, in graphite, in later hand: 18125 / [indecipherable]

Markings

none

Watermarks

COMP

Wikidata ID

Q65568293

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