Charles-François Daubigny. 1817-1878.
L'arbre aux corbeau (Crows Perching in a Tree). 1867. Etching. Delteil, Leymarie 120.ii. Image: 7 7/8 x 10 7/8; plate 8 1/2 x 11 3/4 (sheet 10 7/16 x 14 5/8). Illustrated: Keppel, The Golden Age of Engraving.; Hults The Print in the Western World. Signed and titled in the plate, lower left. A fine impression printed on tan laid paper. $1,500.
Leymarie, in Graphic Art of the Pre-Impressionists, page. 282, writes: This, perhaps, the most celebrated of Daubigny's etchings, marks a change in style toward a realism which is more spare and, as Laran said, more oriented towards 'luminous effect' and 'an almost tragic beauty.' It is also an engraving that Daubigny must have done purely for itself since -- something rare indeed with him -- it is unconnected with any project for publication. Further, it served as the basis for a painting he did in 1873. Thus we find ourselves here well within the new movement of the original art-print treated with the same dignity as a canvas, though Fidell-Beaufort (vol.I, p. 113) does suggest that the plate was intended for the Société des Aqua-fortistes and was not brought out by them because they disbanded in 1867.
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