Shipping in the Port of London [recto]
c. 1884
![Shipping in the Port of London [recto] by Félix-Hilaire Buhot](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/nga/thumb/shipping-in-the-port-of-london-recto-nga-93148.webp)
Medium
graphite and black chalk on wove paper
Dimensions
overall: 5.5 x 17.4 cm (2 3/16 x 6 7/8 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Helena Gunnarsson Buhot Collection
Accession Number
1995.54.64.a
Art Historical Context
Step into the bustling world of Victorian London with Félix-Hilaire Buh's *Shipping in the Port of [recto]*, a delicate drawing from around 1884. This intimate sketch captures the dynamic harbor scene, with ships crowding the Thames, evoking height of Britain's imperial trade era. Buhot, a etcher and draftsman celebrated for his intricate urban vignettes, often traveled to document such vivid spectacles, blending meticulous observation with a lively sense of movement. Created in graphite and black chalk on smooth wove paper, the work measures just 5.5 x 17.4 cm—its narrow, panoramic format id...
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...