La Place des Martyrs et La Taverne du Bagne (The Place des Martyrs and the Jailhouse Tavern)

1885

Félix-Hilaire Buhot

Associated Names
Félix-Hilaire Buhot

Artist, French, 1847 - 1898

This is a drawing of a night street scene outside a tavern. The drawing depicts a crowded urban setting with a prominent tavern sign that reads "TAVERNE DU BAGNE" illuminated against a backdrop of dark, looming buildings. The scene is set at night, creating a contrast between the shadows of the surrounding structures and the brightness emanating from the tavern. A large group of people are gathered in the foreground, appearing as silhouettes against the luminous background. The setting is framed by sketch-like borders featuring various etchings and text at the bottom, adding detail to the drawing. This drawing is done in the style of late 19th-century etching.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching, aquatint, lift-ground aquatint, drypoint, roulette, and burnishing in brown-black, with selective wiping (particularly in the bank of windows), on cream laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Helena Gunnarsson Buhot Collection

  • Dimensions

    plate: 34 x 44.9 cm (13 3/8 x 17 11/16 in.)
    sheet: 47.3 x 58.7 cm (18 5/8 x 23 1/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1995.54.53

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Bourcard/Goodfriend 1979, no. 163, State iii/iii

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

James Goodfriend, New York; Helena Gunnarsson, Washington, DC; gift to NGA, 1995.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2005

  • The Prints of Félix Buhot: Impressions of City and Sea, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2005-2006, no. 27, as The Place of the Martyrs and the Jailhouse Tavern.

Bibliography

1899

  • Bourcard, Gustave. Felix Buhot: catalogue descriptif de son oeuvre grave. Paris: H. Floury, 1899. Reprint. With additions and revisions by James Goodfriend. New York: Martin Goodfriend, 1979.

Inscriptions

lower right in plate: FELIX BUHOT_Nov._1885; lower center with red stamp: FB (Lugt 977); lower right in plate (vertically): O Forçats!; across bottom in plate: Pendant qu'ils sont la-bas rivés a des labeurs / Eternels par la griffe implacable des chaines / Ayant sur eux la Chiourme au dedans des gehennes / Et crachant en jurons immondes leurs rancoeurs / O Forçats! Tout le Bien que leur misère inspire / C'est de battre la caisse avec ces désepoirs / Ici dans un boulet le Passant trouve a rire / Et la chaine en gros sous tinte sur les comptoirs; by later hand, upper right in graphite: B 163-; by later hand, lower left verso in graphite: APG 8949; by later hand, lower right verso in graphite: 27024 / [s]call / La Taverne du Bagne

Wikidata ID

Q75394115

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