Le Petite Enterrement (The Burial -- Small Plate)
Medium
etching, drypoint, roulette, aquatint with scraping on tan wove paper
Dimensions
plate: 8.7 × 11.2 cm (3 7/16 × 4 7/16 in.) sheet: 14.4 × 16.7 cm (5 11/16 × 6 9/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Helena Gunnarsson Buhot Collection, Gift in Honor of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art
Accession Number
2017.199.17
Art Historical Context
Félix-Hilaire Buhot's *Le Petite Enterrement (The Burial -- Small Plate)*, created in 187, captures a poignant moment this intimate etching, inviting viewers into a somber, everyday scene on a remarkably small scale—plate dimensions of just 8.7 × 11.2 cm. Buhot, a French printmaker active during the Impressionist era, was renowned for his innovative approach to intaglio techniques, blending etching's precise lines with the velvety richness of other methods to evoke atmosphere and emotion. This "small plate" exemplifies his mastery, transforming a modest funeral procession into a deeply human n...
About the Artist
Félix-Hilaire Buhot · 1847–1898
Félix-Hilaire Buhot was born on July 9, 1847, in Valognes, a small town in Normandy, France, into a modest family—his father a wine merchant and his mother a seller of women's clothes. Orphaned by age seven after losing both parents and his maternal grandmother, he was raised by relatives, including a godfather, and received an early introduction to drawing from his adopted mother's nephew. In 186...