The Sawmill of Bas-Meudon
Medium
etching on laid paper
Dimensions
plate: 40.13 × 63.25 cm (15 13/16 × 24 7/8 in.) sheet: 50.29 × 71.63 cm (19 13/16 × 28 3/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
The Helena E.M. Gunnarsson Fund
Accession Number
2023.65.3
Art Historical Context
Félix Bracquemond *The Sawmill of Basudon* (1868) is a masterful etching that captures the gritty rhythm of industrial life along the Seine River suburbs of Paris. As a leading figure in France's 19th-century revival, Bracquem elevated printmaking to fine art, blending precise linework with atmospheric depth. This large-scale plate (40.13 × 63.25 cm) on laid paper—characterized by its subtle chain lines from traditional papermaking—showcases his technical prowess, allowing for intricate details in the sawmill's machinery, stacked logs, and workers amid a lush, wooded backdrop. Created during ...
About the Artist
Félix Bracquemond · 1833–1914
French, Paris 1833–1914 Sèvres