Night Patrol

This scene is in Quinéville, a coastal village in Normandy near Buhot’s hometown of Valognes, where there was a fort that required regular patrol by a watchman. Buhot did a related oil painting of the subject in the same year, of much greater expanse and different composition; but in the print the fort has been replaced by a pair of monumental gate posts, apparently marking the entrance to a mansion. The fowl and the muddy road, however, tell us that this is still countryside.

In this first state, or working stage of the plate, of which only two impressions are currently known, the time is early evening. A significant shift in the time of day occurred when Buhot reworked the plate to produce the second state.

Félix Buhot
French, 1847–1898

Private collection

1878

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

Etching and drypoint
First state of three
Plate: 5 1/16 x 5 9/16 inches