Funeral Procession on the Boulevard de Clichy

Funeral Procession is the only one of Buhot’s etchings destined from the beginning to be a color print, even though a number of his plates were at times printed in various colors. The coloring here is meant less for lifelike representation than for mood and atmosphere. The verses in the lower left refer to an undertaker’s pleasure in seeing hearses silhouetted in black against the Parisian skies, so the image is hardly a memento mori (remembrance of death) in the usual sense. The presence of Buhot’s familiar owls brings to it a personal involvement. The main subject and its pictorial margins, apparently printed from two plates, are in this impression surrounded by another marginal frame printed in black (some other impressions have it printed in gold).

Félix Buhot
French, 1847–1898

Private collection

1887

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

Etching, drypoint, aquatint, roulette, soft ground, lift ground, and stop-out over heliogravure retouched with gouache
Printed from three plates
State two of three
Plate: 11 13/16 x 15 3/4 inches
Margin plate: 12 7/8 x 17 5/8 inches