"The Jetty Trouville" after the painting by Maurice Poirson (c 1846/1850-1882), antique Victorian photogravure; engraved by Goupil, 1881; printed on heavy stock paper; signed in plate "M. Poirson, Pinx." and "Gravure Goupil et Cie." "The Masterpieces of French Art" The description sheet for this print is included.

Printed on high quality heavy paper, design 9.3/4" x 5.1/2" [25cm x 14cm], the entire plate is 11.1/2" x 15" [29cm x 38cm]; a little aging, a little corner wear, some foxing, very good condition [see photo].

The picture shows the boredom of the tourists 'enjoying' cold rainy day. The only attraction is a boat delivering the next group of tourists.

Trouville-sur-Mer, Normandy region in northwestern France, became a popular tourist attraction (beach-resort and holiday-destination) from the 19th century. Its long sandy beach earned then the nickname of "queen of the beaches" ("Reine des plages") or "most beautiful beach in the world".

The name of Trouville is frequently associated with the names of the numerous painters that visited it and painted there, especially during the second part of the 19th century: Claude Monet, Eugene Boudin, Raoul Dufy, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Gustave Caillebotte, Fernand Leger, etc.

In 1870s-1890s, Goupil & Cie were the leading art dealers in 19th century France, with headquarters in Paris and a network of branches in London, Brussels, The Hague, Berlin and Vienna, as well as in New York and Australia. Instrumental for this expansion was the "Ateliers Photographiques", a plant north of Paris, in Asnieres, which took up its work in 1869. The photogravures created in this plant dominated the world art market of 1880s-1890s.

The creation of the photogravure plate was a complicated process requiring a work by a photographer and experienced master-engraver. First, a copper plate was coated with a light-sensitive gelatin tissue which had been exposed to a film positive, and then etched, resulting in a high-quality intaglio print that can reproduce the detail and continuous tones of a photograph. It is a manual process. Therefore, the quality of the photogravure depends on the masterly execution by the engraver.

Photogravures were engraved on copper plates and leave a plate impression in the paper. Due to relative softness of copper, the editions of photogravures were limited to a few thousand copies similarly to copper engravings and etchings.

Artwork will be mailed unframed.

US: Priority (c 4-10 days) ----------- $22.50
Canada: 1st Class (c 2-6 weeks) -- $32.50
World: 1st Class (c 2-8 weeks) --- $42.50