Marine Painter

The lonely painter, laden with his gear and trudging along the sand by the wave-encrusted sea, provides a melancholic but straightforward subject. It is transformed, however, into a fantastic image as creatures of the sea and air appear as threatening elements, and a stormy sky allows a strange, unearthly light from a mysterious symbol at the upper left. The “symbol” is really the impressed stamp of the maker of the copper plate, not burnished out by Buhot, as would have been standard procedure, but incorporated into the image. There is hardly another printmaker who would have even thought of such a thing, but such fortuitous actions are fully in keeping with Buhot’s aesthetic attitude.

Félix Buhot
French, 1847–1898

Private collection

c. 1879

This image is posted publicly for non-profit educational uses, excluding printed publication. Other uses are not permitted.

Etching, drypoint, and aquatint
State one of four
Plate: 5 1/16 x 8 1/16 inches