Landscape is an etching with interventions of drypoint and burin on doubly watermarked paper (a cluster of grapes ...

Landscape is an etching with interventions of drypoint and burin on doubly watermarked paper (a cluster of grapes and an 'M' into a double circle) realized by Auguste-Aristide-Fernand Constantin (1824-1895) in 1863. Signed on plate on the lower left margin. This specimen is a superb print with a lifetime impression, an artist's print proof before letter, representing a typical romantic landscape and bucolic scene, with men and women portrayed in a contemplative idyllic state. Worthy of mention is that the artist deepened the black shadows, giving importance to the large tree with thick foliage, to the characters, and to the cows at the center of the scene. In excellent conditions, except for a minor ink stain on the lower left margin, beyond the marginal line of the matrix. Auguste-Aristide-Fernand Constantin (Paris, 1824-1895) Under the influence of his father, the architect Auguste Constantin (1790-1842), he learned at a very young age the art of painting and the techniques of engraving. He also attended the classes of François-Edouard Picot and Thomas Couture. He began exhibiting at the Salon of 1848, where he presented six landscapes. It was in 1859 that he revealed himself as an etcher: at the Salon of 1863, he exhibited six different etchings: Fantasies, edited by Alfred Cadart, accompanied by painted still lifes. He was undoubtedly a member of the young society of aquafortists. His works show views of French cities under the Ancien Régime. He also produced watercolors that perfectly imitate the art of 18th-century genre painters, and reflected the fashionable tastes of the time. In 1882, he produced a final series of etchings, for an edition of Isoline and the snake flower, the novel by Judith Gautier.
32.4 x 39.8 (foglio), 24 x 32 (image)